Accomplishments

• Introduction
• Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead
• Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day
• Closing the Scarborough Gap
• Signage Program
• Award-Winning Website
• Great Waterfront Trail Adventure
• Bike Show
• Media Coverage
• La Route Verte's International Mobile Forum
• Update of Waterfront Trail Guidelines
• Interprovincial Connection
• Waterfront Toronto Committee Work
• Ezines
• Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway
• Expansion and Enhancement - Phase II
• Participation in Other Greenway Initiatives
• Regeneration in Action
• Rouge Park
• What's Ahead in 2008

INTRODUCTION

In 2007, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust celebrated the 15th Anniversary of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway and the partnership that transformed a royal commission recommendation into one of the province’s finest fitness, recreation and tourism amenities.

The Waterfront Trail and Greenway is making an enduring contribution to our public realm. It is both an assertion of our desire to keep the water’s edge publicly accessible and a conviction that our watersheds should be protected to keep our waters clean. With a signed route in place, and commuter use on the rise, the Trail forms an important part of our green transportation infrastructure.

This contribution would have been impossible had not over 50 waterfront partners from all orders of government and the conservation authorities embraced the possibility that each of their projects, large or small, could add something to a bigger, bolder vision. The Waterfront Trail and Greenway is a wonderful example of how many projects can unite to have a provincial impact. There is a folksy, obvious wisdom to this observation—and yet the success of the waterfront partnership and the scope of the project they have undertaken continue to impress people.

In addition to celebrating what has been accomplished, this year, together with our partners we examined the road ahead and considered the next priorities facing the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. To that end, the Trust is at work developing an exciting new program to engage the public and promote communities along the Trail. As well, we are preparing the next round of capital projects to take advantage of future funding opportunities. Our partners have identified 34 projects that will form the next investment in this provincial resource.

Highlights from the 2007 program include:

• Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead—the first partners meeting with all the new waterfront partners from communities east of Brockville.
• Great Waterfront Trail Adventure – a program to raise the profile of the Waterfront Trail with youth and families
• Publication of the Revised Waterfront Trail and Greenway Design, Signage and Maintenance Guidelines
• Wrap up of the Lake Ontario Waterfront Investment Program—52 projects along the Waterfront Trail and Greenway
• Extensive media coverage—journal articles, newspaper and radio coverage of the Trail and events
• 2007 Regeneration In Action report—a companion report that describes 63 waterfront projects that are tackling trail, environmental and community priorities.
  

BEYOND REGENERATION: THE TRAIL AHEAD – WATERFRONT CONFERENCE AND PARTNERS MEETING

On September 19 and 20th, the Waterfront Regeneration Trust hosted Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead. This was the first trail-wide meeting since our partnership expanded to include communities east of Brockville. Attendance was excellent and included representatives from almost every community along the Waterfront Trail. In our post-conference evaluation, 100% of respondents said that provided a “valuable and/or needed opportunity to meet with peers and colleagues from the Waterfront Trail and Greenway communities.”

The program featured an international roster of speakers and experts including:

Fred Kent, Project for Public Spaces.
Mr. Kent spoke about the important of creating places that offered 10 things to do, so that they could become gathering places for people.

Joe Berridge, Urban Strategies.
Mr. Berridge, spoke to the importance of preserving places for serenity and nature within the city.

Adriaan Geuze, West 8 Architecture described the plans for redesigning Toronto’s Central Waterfront, which will become a major gateway to the Waterfront Trail.

Mayor David Miller welcomed partners to Toronto and announced that City Staff would work with the Trust to identify a street-based route for the Trail through Scarborough. In doing so, close a major gap in the Trail.

T.J. Juskiewicz, Director of RAGBRAI, an annual 7-day cycling trip through Iowa, which attracts in excess of 10,000 participants each year.

Joelle Sevigny, Velo Quebec.
Ms. Sevigny described the products and experiences Velo Quebec offers to the public to expose them to Quebec's La Route verte.

Teresa Mitchell, Seaway Trail, USA.
Ms. Mitchell described the importance of interpretation to enhance user experience. The Seaway Trail offers a number of thematic, self-guided tours around heritage, lighthouses and the environment to name a few.

Gil Penalosa, Walk and Bike for Life.
Mr. Penalosa described the need to create opportunities for pedestrians and cyclists. He described some of the active living cultures in Europe and challenged us to embrace practices that would change our car-focused view.

Justin Lafontaine, BikeTrain.
Mr. Lafontaine spearheaded a new program in 2007 to get bikes onto VIA Rail on the Toronto to Niagara route. The program was an outstanding success and demonstrates the growing in interest in people to use green transportation alternatives.

Scott Carpenter, Lake Erie Coastal Ohio.
Mr Carpenter described the opportunities and challenges inherent to “re-branding” the Great Lakes communities. Legitimate concerns about water quality have created the false impression that the communities on the Great Lakes are unattractive and that recreational opportunities are impossible due to the pollution. Lake Erie Coastal is working with US communities to change this view.

Marlaine Koehler, Waterfront Regeneration Trust reviewed the state of Trail today, summarized user patterns, described some of the many urban and regeneration features of the Trail projects, and spoke about future projects planned to develop and enhance this legacy project.

Suzanne Barrett of Barrett Consulting researched the status of two urban wetlands that had been the subject of controversial compromises between residential and industrial uses and environmental concerns in the early 1990s--Lynde Shores and Westside Marsh. Her findings were presented on display boards on hand at the Meeting

MMM Group developed a display to introduce the Revised Waterfront Trail Guidelines to the partners.

The conference provided the setting for the official celebration of the completion of the 52 projects that comprise the Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. Representatives from the federal and provincial governments and CIBC were on hand to help unveil the two bronze plaques that will be placed at either end of the Waterfront Trail to commemorate the program. Mayor Steve Parish of Ajax and Councillor Vicki Schmolka of Kingston each spoke about their respective projects and the importance of the program for their communities.

Table discussions throughout the day provided a forum for communicating about important partnership issues including the Trust’s Collaborative Communications Program (CCPP) and future directions for the partnership.

From the table discussions, we learned that:

• 93% of respondents feel that there continues to be a value added to the CCPP;
• 100% of respondents said there is a value to mounting an annual multi-community, trail-wide event; and
• 85% of responses said that the Trust should coordinate the event in co-operation with its partners.

The discussion results clearly indicate that our partners continue to see value in the Collaborative Communications and Promotions Program, which includes the website, signage, brochures, media outreach and partners meetings.

It’s also clear that with a signed route now in place, the partners feel strongly that it is the time to promote the communities along the Trail and the Trail itself through an annual event. Such an event would be a key opportunity to promote the trail as an important piece of green infrastructure that supports healthy environments and healthy lifestyles. In response to the overwhelming support for the idea, we are currently developing a Trail-wide event to take place in the summer of 2008. Announced in the November Ezine, the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure Tour for Families. Inspired by the success of RAGBRAI, this event will create opportunities for recreational cyclists to experience the Trail and Greenway and the waterfront communities it connects.

Our thanks to CIBC, Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation, Toronto Hydro Corporation, MMM Group and WATEFRONToronto and the Canadian Urban Institute for their help in making Beyond Regeneration a successful and productive session.

Feedback from the conference evaluations was very positive with 100% of respondents saying the conference was good value for the money.

WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY DAY

September 20th, 2007 was named the first annual Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day communities along the Trail. To celebrate, we invited our partners to join us on a 56 km bicycle ride from Mississauga to Pickering. The ride began with wonderful breakfast at Lakefront Promenade Public Marina. Ajax Mayor Steve Parish led the way to to Harbourfront Centre where we met Councillor Adam Vaughan and Heart and Stroke CEO Rocco Rossi. Along the way we picked up riders, for example, Toronto Councillor Ron Moeser met the group in Port Union. The ride ended in Petticoat Creek Conservation Area. The City of Pickering recruited community partners to provide massages, a fire truck cool down, and music by Muhtadi. Ontario Power Generation hosted a BBQ lunch and ice cream, and Starbucks provided refreshments along the way. Pickering Councillor Jennifer O'Connell described the plans to create a western gateway to Pickering's Waterfront Trail themed to celebrate First Nations heritage. Mark Holland, MP, and Wayne Arthurs, MPP, both involved in the creation of the Waterfront Trail from the early years, offered remarks.

CLOSING THE SCARBOROUGH GAP

In addition to a lot of fun and hard work (many of us have not cycled for years) we got a first hand view of the gap that divides the Trail into east and west. Much of the former City of Scarborough does not have any signed trail--this remains one the chief complaints by trail users received by the Trust. While the long-term goal and stated community desire is a route by the water's edge, we are decades away from this goal. Together with our partners we piloted a street-based, route that is attractive and could provide an interim solution with the installation of signage.

On the 20th we, rode the unsigned route and experienced the frustration of referring to maps to find our way--almost every cyclist missed at least one turn. Signage is critically important to building confidence and increasing the enjoyment of the trail experience and encouraging use.
At the Greenstar Expo, November 1-2 in Ajax, many of the people interviewed stated that they didn’t travel west along the Waterfront Trail towards Toronto because of the gap and lack of signage directing them along a safe route.

The process has begun to have an interim Scarborough route signed in 2008.

SIGNAGE PROGRAM

The Waterfront Trail signage program took a major leap forward in 2007 with the installation of 17 new trailhead signs along the newly signed stretch of Trail running from Brockville to the Quebec border. The Cornwall and Seaway Valley Tourism Board coordinated the signage program for its members (Iroquois to Quebec) securing support and funding for 16 trailhead signs along that section.

Prince Edward County has installed trailhead signs at Carrying Place and Glenora Ferry.

We continue to make major strides with directional signage as well, with 320 designation signs and over 200 designation arrows distributed to communities along the Trail. These signs were purchased by the communities based on the recommendations of the 2005 Signage Audit. Under this program, volunteers who were experienced cyclists, rode the trail in both directions checking for and reporting signage deficiencies. In 2007 the following communities purchased their recommended signage:

• St Catharines
• Kingston
• Loyalist
• Oshawa
• Cramahe
• Clarington
• Niagara-on-the-Lake
• Oakville

The Municipality of Port Hope has closed a 10 km gap in its trail by signing a stretch of HWY 2 between Clarington and Downtown Port Hope. This stretch of heritage road has functioned as the Waterfront Trail for years.

AWARD-WINNING WEBSITE!

The Waterfront Trail and Greenway website, www.waterfronttrail.org, was named “Best Site For Kids and Families” in the 2007 American Trails Website Contest. Winners were selected from across America in categories that highlight the wide variety of site sponsors, special features, and creative promotion of trails and greenways on the Internet. The award recognizes in particular two of our web campaigns aimed at encouraging kids and families to explore the Waterfront Trail:

• Tastes of the Trail Starter’s Kit: our highly popular web page containing maps and itineraries for 8 suggested family-friendly outings on the Trail. The Starter's Kit itineraries are also part of new Map Book.
  
• The Great Waterfront Trail Adventure: a new campaign aimed at introducing kids to what the Trail has to offer. On the site, you’ll find an interactive map of the Trail where kids can explore by category, and suggestions for family friendly weekend getaways.

Both of these features can be accessed from our homepage under the “Get Started” icon.

Also new to the website this year:

• New Itineraries page containing 4 new 60-150 km routes
• Updated trail information and trail maps
• 2007 Update of Waterfront Trail Design, Signage and Maintenance Guidelines available in pdf format
• 2007 editions of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway News and the Shorezine (launched this year)

GREAT WATERFRONT TRAIL ADVENTURE

The Great Waterfront Trail Adventure was designed to encourage families to pursue an active lifestyle while enjoying the Waterfront Trail, and to encourage them to explore parts of the Trail outside their communities. The adventure began with a brochure that unfolded into a map of the Trail that appealed to children and families, while also listing many of the diverse activities to participate in along the trail, including fishing, beaches, historical sites, wooded trails, and more. Each municipality is listed on the map with selected activities listed geographically, while the other side of the brochure lists activities and provides suggested week-end getaways based partnering festivals.

A web version was also created to offer an interactive element for children and parents that allows people to explore a more comprehensive list of the diverse activities and attractions that are available along the Trail. Itineraries are posted on-line as well, offering a wide variety of cycling routes with various distances and attractions, and recommended week-end trips were organized around select waterfront festivals that include a bike ride and hike on the Waterfront Trail. This section of www.waterfronttrail.org won the American Trails web-site award for best site for kids and families.

There were 250,000 GWTA brochures created and distributed across Ontario focusing on the elementary schools in southern Ontario, tourism offices, as well as girl guide units, boys and girls clubs, the Toronto bike show, Owl and ChickaDEE inserts, and other community events. Parent City featured the Adventure in its regional newspapers. News about the Trail would have reached southern Ontario families potentially three times: in Chickadee or Owl magazine, through Parent City and with their children's report cards.

The Trust office received several phone calls from people who had received the brochure seeking more information, dozens of schools asked for more of the pamphlets, and a doctor asked for some copies for his office after his child brought one home from school.

Funding for the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure was provided by the Ministry of Health Promotion as part of the Active 2010 program.

BIKE SHOW

The Trust was back at the Toronto Bike Show this year, connecting with trail users and cyclists from around the GTA and beyond. The Trust staff spoke with hundreds of people, answering questions about the Trail and gathering valuable feedback on trail issues.

This year, we took advantage of the occasion to unveil the “Great Waterfront Trail Adventure,” our new brochure and web page aimed at children and families, which received a great response from kids at the show. You can read more about this promotion above. Also launched at the show was our brand new Waterfront Trail and Greenway Mapbook. This proved a popular item with over 50 mapbooks sold over the course of the weekend.

As usual, the Trust came prepared with a survey to gather some stats about cyclists. This year’s survey focused heavily on cycle touring. We found that 44% of respondents have taken an organized cycling tour in the past, while 55% of respondents said that they would pay for an organized cycling tour of the Waterfront Trail. When asked about accommodations, 67% said they enjoy 2 or 3 star accommodations and 59% enjoy camping. On cycling trips, the majority of respondents prefer to stop and visit (54%), as opposed to cycling through (46%). The top two resources for planning trips are the web (92%) and word of mouth (63%).

Much of the feedback we received at the Bike Show spoke to the importance of closing the gaps in the Trail and, in particular, the major gap in Scarborough. In the Bike Show survey, an overwhelming majority (96%) of respondents said that they support signing a route using quiet residential streets and existing trail pieces as an interim solution to closing the Scarborough gap.

2007 Bike Show Poll
Selected Results

Reasons for using the Trail:

Support signing interim residential route through Scarborough

Have taken an organized cycle tour

Would pay to take cycle tour on Waterfront Trail

Ideal cycling tour

Accommodations

Preferred daily cycling distance

Preferred cycling pace

Resources used for trip planning

MEDIA COVERAGE

The 15th Anniversary provided many media opportunities to promote the Trail to the public, while the Trail's importance to waterfront and community regeneration were honoured in a number of professional journals.

• City Parent (April 2007) full-page spread
• Municipal World (March 2007) feature
• Ontario Planning Journal (Jan/Feb 2007) cover & feature
• Toronto Star (Oct 17, 2007) Bike Train Initiative
• Globe and Mail Travel Insert
• Over 30 articles in regional and local papers across the waterfront
• Several radio interviews (Belleville, Cornwall, Toronto, St. Catharines, CBC)
• Daytime interviews, Rogers Cable
• Ad in City Parent
• Ads in community and recreation guides
• Ad in Green Life Magazine – sponsored by OPG
• Ad in Durham papers – sponsored by OPG

This year the Trust established a number of reciprocal web links:

• Links on partner websites, such as municipalities
• Information and links posted on tourism sites
• Links on cycling web-sites
• Information on wikipedia

The Waterfront Trail and Greenway is described in the following new publications:

• Halton Hikes (Trust was a partner in this initiative)
• GreenTOpia

The Trust participated in the following trade shows, talking to hundreds of people about the Trail:

• Toronto Bike show
• Greenstar Expo
• Adelaide Club

LA ROUTE VERTE’S INTERNATIONAL MOBILE FORUM

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust was honoured to be on the exclusive list of invitees, which included representatives from nine major cycling organizations and developers of major bikeways in Canada, United States and Europe (France, Switzerland, Norway, Belgium - European Cycling Federation, & Spain) to participate in an International Forum centered on promoting promising practices in trail/cycling development and maintenance.

Vicki Barron represented the Trust at the Forum and showcased the Waterfront Trail on behalf of our partners to this prestigious international gathering of experts. The length of the Waterfront Trail and its close proximity to the majority of the population of Ontario impressed the participants. But our signage and mapping was the envy of everyone present! In her presentation, she focused on two of the Trust’s recent initiatives—web site development and the Design, Signage Maintenance Guidelines.

UPDATE OF WATERFRONT TRAIL GUIDELINES

This year, the Trust retained the MMM Group to undertake a complete update the 1996 Waterfront Trail Design, Signage and Maintenance Guidelines. The Guidelines document is a valuable reference tool for trail managers, providing solutions for signing new stretches of Trail and maintaining existing sections, planning for the different needs of user groups, minimizing the potential impacts of trails on wildlife and habitats, and choosing signs that help trail users find their way easily and safely.

The MMM Group has created an exceptional document, which reflects current information and best practices from across North America and internationally. The update contains an expanded section dealing with options and guidelines for on-road sections of Trail as much of the Trail currently follows on-road alignments. All of the graphics have been redesigned in colour and case studies and images of success stories along the trail have been included wherever possible.

Two new appendices provide a manual for implementing a trail signage audit—an excellent tool to identify signage deficiencies, and an overview on the state of the Waterfront Trail based on research gained through the 2006 Trail Managers End to End Tour of the Trail.

In order to disseminate the document to trail partners and organizations, the Trust has distributed CD’s of the Guidelines to all of our CCPP partners and made the document available in electronic format on our website. We would like to acknowledge Patrick Connor's assistance in making the publication known and available to the network of provincial trail organizations and to the Ontario Trails Strategy Coordinating Council.

Funding for the update of the Guidelines was generously provided by the Ministry of Health Promotion.

INTERPROVINCIAL CONNECTION

In January 2007 the Trust met with 50 representatives from the Quebec and Ontario communities that would be part of establishing a seamless connection between Ontario's Waterfront Trail and Quebec's La Route verte.

The federal government and both provincial governments were represented at the meeting. Jim Brownell, MPP for Cornwall and Parliamentary Assistant for Minister Jim Bradley attended on behalf of Ontario. At the meeting we decided that a formal connection could be established through:

• Installation of Welcome Kiosk promoting both trail system
• Installation of advance signage promoting both trails en route
• Construction of 12 km of dedicated multi-use path in Lancaster.

Since then, South Stormont and Glengarry has provided a site for the kiosk, and signage has been developed for the Ontario section.

WATERFRONT TORONTO COMMITTEE WORK

The Trust is represented on three of the Waterfront Toronto Stakeholder Committees. In each of these Committees, the Trust ensures that:

• the 9 waterfront principles are respected in terms of design and implementation;
• the interests of the Waterfront Trail users are incorporated into the designs; and
• the experiences of our Waterfront partners as they relate to each design are shared with the Committees.

WATERFRONToronto is placing a priority on a continuous multi-use Trail along the Toronto Waterfront and this partnership is a valuable one for the Trust to achieve our objectives.

The three sites are:

• Central Waterfront – this project is particularly complex as the implementation goal is to broaden the lake side pedestrian space from Bathurst Street to Parliament Street and one option is to close the two lanes of Queen’s Quay south of the TTC streetcar tracks and transform this area into a pedestrian zone. An environment assessment looking at options is underway;
  
  
• Ontario Place – last year Waterfront Toronto refurbished the Trail through Marilyn Bell Park (a great waters edge Trail as well as a Trail closer to Lakeshore Road). The easterly boundary of this work was Ontario Place, so the plan is to continue Trail improvements through the Ontario Place site. Design alternatives for the Trail are being prepared as well as a concept Plan for the entire Ontario Place site from the waters edge north to Lakeshore Road; and
  
  
• Lake Ontario Park – is on the east side of the central Waterfront and incorporates several existing projects (Tommy Thompson Park, Ashbridges Bay Park, mouth of the Don River etc). The goal is to connect all of these public spaces, provide new aquatic facilities for rowing, canoeing etc. as well as reroute the Trail. This project is at the preliminary design phase.

EZINES

We continue to publish our monthly electronic magazine, the Waterfront Trail and Greenway News, which highlights Greenway initiatives and activities. With a subscriber base of approximately 800, the WTGN provides an efficient and effective way to communicate success stories on the waterfront to both our partners and other interested parties.

This year, we also introduced a new electronic newsletter designed specifically for trail users, entitled the Do More on the Shore Ezine, or “Shorezine.” With over 200 subscribers and counting, the Shorezine has proven to be a great resource for communicating with Trail users and gathering valuable feedback and opinions on issues relating to the Trail. Articles include featured routes and attractions, as well as Trail Tales, which provide insight as to how people use the Trail to connect from one municipality to another as a means of commuting, recreation, and travel, and hopefully provide motivation for readers to organize their own trip along the Waterfront Trial. The Shorezine also offers a great avenue to promote the communities along the Waterfront Trail by featuring attractions and events, and providing information on unique activities to pursue.

Back issues of both ezines are available on the Trust’s website.

EXPANSION AND ENHANCEMENT OF THE WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY

2007 was a landmark year for the Trust and its partners as we celebrated the official completion of the 52 projects that comprise the Expansion and Enhancement of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway. The program was initiated in 2003, when the Trust and its 27 community partners succeeded in securing a $9.2 million contribution from the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP) towards 52 projects. In total the projects have brought $30 million of investment to the Lake Ontario waterfront and resulted in:

• 70 km of new trail and trail connections
• 10 major waterfront promenades
• 3 bridges
• Improvements to 16 waterfront parks
• 7 new cultural heritage facilities
• Interpretation of 15 waterfront habitats
• 3 major brownfield rehabilitation projects
• 15 significant waterfront habitat restoration projects
• 2 harbour/marina revitalization projects

A list of these and other projects is attached as a separate report and available from the Trust website.

EXPANSION AND ENHANCEMENT – PHASE II

The success of the COIP program has begun to inspire a whole new set of projects for the future. Feedback from the Sept 20th partners meeting indicates that our partners believe it is important to continue the investment in the Trail with the goal of bringing the trail off-road and as close to the water as possible. The Trust currently has a portfolio of 34 future projects from our partners, which we are using to develop the next application for infrastructure funding. We have met with various Ministry representatives to discuss the need for a second phase of investment.

PARTICIPATION IN OTHER GREENWAY INITIATIVES

As we often remind ourselves and partners, the idea of the Waterfront Trail and Greenway was inspired by the public through hearings conducted by the Royal Commission on the Future of the Toronto Waterfront. In many cases the community has organized themselves to champion and implement projects that are key to realizing the vision of a Waterfront Trail. This tradition continues and is growing to the great benefit of public realm. The Trust supports many such local initiatives. At times the contribution to the work is a presentation, a letter of support or a connection to resources. In some cases the projects are included in the list of future priority trail projects. Some of projects and the community groups are:

Port Hope-Cobourg Waterfront Trail and Parks Committee

Establishing an off-road trail connection between the two towns. Trust released $12,000 from the Regeneration Fund that had been dedicated for this work.

Friends of Charles Daley Park

Restoring Charles Daley Park in the Town of Lincoln. This is one of the few access points for the public to the waterfront in Lincoln. The community group in partnership with the Town installed a boardwalk promenade in the park.

Lakefront Promenade Resident Committee

Created by Councillor Mark Grimes, this committee (Toronto) is addressing a number of traffic and other issues on this section of on-road Waterfront Trail.

Windsor Bay Park Committee

Located in Whitby, this once forgotten park is being restored by local residents through tree plantings and installation of park benches. The Committee hopes to transform the park into a community amenity and natural sanctuary for migrating birds. Safety issues related to the Brock Street Bridge, adjacent to the park, have been identified by the group.

Burlington and Hamilton Cycling Committees

Championing the addition of a cycling lane to the lift bridge over the canal at the Burlington/Hamilton boundary. To date costs and operational risks have stalled progress. However, the group continues to research new approaches to deal with the matter.

REGENERATION IN ACTION

The Trust publishes an Annual report, Regeneration in Action to identify projects and programs that are shaping the waterfront regeneration. The report is available on the Trust website and does an excellent job of demonstrating the broader environmental, economic and community aspects of the projects underway.

ROUGE PARK

The Trust administers a fund created in 1995 to protect the Rouge Valley. Work led by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority and the Rouge Park Alliance have established the Rouge Park as a stunning urban wilderness park. At 47 square kilometres and embracing three watersheds (Rouge, Petticoat and Duffins), the park is an essential part of Ontario’s new greenbelt providing critical habitat to flora and fauna and aquatic life.

Pauline Browes, Trust Board Member, serves on the Rouge Park Alliance and is responsible for the creation of the Fund by Heritage Canada in 1995. In recognition of her environmental conservation work, particularly in the Rouge Valley watershed, the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority awarded her the 2007 Honour Roll Award.

The Honour Roll Award certificate reads:

For her significant contribution to the work of Toronto and Region Conservation through her personal dedication to the protection of the Rouge River valley for over two decades, for her tireless efforts and determination which initiated the creation of the Rouge Park, the largest natural environment park in an urban area in North America, and for being a committed environmentalist and powerful advocate for the preservation of greenspace in keeping with TRCA’s vision of the Living City.

WHAT’S AHEAD IN 2008

The completion of 52 projects on the Trail and a signed route in place creates many new opportunities for the partnership, particularly in the area of promotions and marketing. So while we remain committed to securing funding sources for the next phase of investment on the waterfront, the Trust will launch a new program aimed at getting people on to the Trail and helping them pursue active, healthy lifestyle.
The program will build on the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, moving it from a printed itinerary to family-friendly experience. Next July 4-11, the Trust will coordinate an eight-day tour of the entire Trail from Niagara to Quebec.

We've hired Ian Lobb, formerly of Steve Bauer Cycling Tours and with over 20 years in the Tourism industry to team up with Petrina Tulissi and head the coordination of this 650 km event.
In September 2008, we will convene the next full partners meeting where we will have an opportunity to review the results of the inaugural tour, plan for Year Two and share and learn from each other.

Great Waterfront Trail Adventure Tour for Families—Year One Itinerary

Fri. Jul 4
Niagara to Confederation Park, Hamilton 72.3 km

Sat. Jul 5
Hamilton to Fort York, Toronto 63.8 km

Sun. Jul 6
Toronto to Darlington Park, Clarington 81.6 km

Mon. Jul 7
Clarington to Presqu’ile Park, Brighton 109.2 km

Tues. Jul 8
Brighton to Lake Ontario Park, Kingston 123.6 km

Wed. Jul 9
Kingston to Grenville Campground, Johnstown 113.3 km

Thurs. Jul 10
Johnstown to Cornwall 86.9 km

Fri. Jul 11
Cornwall to Quebec Border 31.2 km