Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

CIBC* COIP*The waterfront municipalities of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, conservation authorities and community groups*The Eastern Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Waterfront Working Group* MapArt* Dunmap*Ontario Ministry of Health Promotion* Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee* St. Lawrence Cement* Tilley Endurables

July 2007

In this issue:

• Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead – Waterfront Conference and Partner’s Meeting
• Celebrating 15 Years - Proclamations for “Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day”
• Waterfront Trail and Greenway showcased in Quebec
• Waterfront Trail and La Route verte connect Montreal to Niagara! Interprovincial connection celebrated
• Trail reopened at Cherry Beach and Darlington Provincial Park
• Construction Begins on Don River Park in Toronto

Upcoming Conferences and Community Events:

• Get peachy with the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train
• Bugs, Butterflies and Birds
• Quay To A Clean Lake
• Technical Tour on the Route Verte
• World Record Walk

BEYOND REGENERATION: THE TRAIL AHEAD – WATERFRONT CONFERENCE PARTNER’S MEETING

When: Sept 19-20, 2007
Where: Palais Royale, Toronto

Click here to view the program
Register today at: http://www.canurb.com/events/register/register1.php?id=185

Don’t forget to register to ensure your place at Beyond Regeneration: The Trail Ahead. The 2-day meeting features an exciting line-up of knowledgeable and inspiring speakers that will guide our discussions about the Waterfront Trail and Greenway’s future. Welcome and thank you to our conference sponsors, CIBC, Toronto Hydro, The MMM Group and Heart and Stroke Foundation.

The program has relevance to any community with a waterfront interested in:

• planning and design trends and challenges; and
• developing multi-community marketing.

Day Two of the Conference -- the first-ever Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day will give participants a unique opportunity to experience the Trail first-hand. We’ve organized a cycling tour from Mississauga to Pickering for our second day. The 46 km ride will showcase just how far we’ve come on the waterfront. The ride is fully supported, with various pick-up and drop-off points that allow you to ride as little, or as much as you like.

Please email Petrina at pt@wrtrust.com to reserve your place in the ride and enquire about bike rentals.

Hotels

For out of town delegates, we have secured a preferred rate for this event at the Four Points Sheraton, located at 1926 Lakeshore Blvd. West. Please call 416-766-4392 and reference the following code when booking your reservations: CAI18A

Reservations will be accepted under this code until August 18, 2007, so please try to book your room as soon as possible.

Make sure your community/organization is represented in these important discussions that will review what we’ve accomplished and set the direction for our partnership in the coming years.

CELEBRATING 15 YEARS - PROCLAMATIONS FOR “WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY DAY”

2007 marks the achievement of several major milestones for the Trail. As a partnership we’ve tripled the length of the Trail, doubled the number of community partners, completed 50 construction projects, attracted $9.2 million of investment to waterfront projects and signed the route from Quebec to Niagara.
To acknowledge their town’s waterfront leadership and record, September 20th, 2007 has been proclaimed “Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day” by the Town of Ajax, Town of Cobourg, Town of Whitby, Loyalist Township, Municipality of Clarington and the City of Belleville.

Many other partners have confirmed they will issue the proclamation closer to September.

WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY ONE OF 12 INTERNATIONAL TRAILS SHOWCASED AS PART OF LA ROUTE VERTE OPENING CEREMONIES

Leading up to the official opening celebrations of la Route verte, Velo Quebec will host a roving 5-day conference, the International Mobile Forum, that will combine a series of trail rides with presentations from international experts to the communities that are part of la Route verte. The Waterfront Trail and Greenway is one of 12 leading international trails to be showcased to the Quebec communities. Vicki Barron of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust has been invited to address the forum on effective signage and user information/promotional programs.

On Friday, August 10th, 2007, the Route verte will be officially unveiled in a celebration taking place across the province of Quebec. With over 4,000 km of bike paths, the Route verte represents the largest unified system of bikeways in the Americas.

Official opening ceremonies for the Route Verte will be taking place at 25 different locations across the province. To take part in the celebrations or to learn more about the Route Verte, visit http://www.routeverte.com/ang/.

WATERFRONT TRAIL AND LA ROUTE VERTE CONNECT MONTREAL TO NIAGARA! INTERPROVINCIAL CONNECTION CELEBRATED

On June 1-3, members of the Waterfront Trust celebrated their partnership with La Route verte by unveiling a Waterfront Trail sign at the Quebec border, the site where the Waterfront Trail officially connects with la Route verte. The mayor of South Glengarry, Jim McDonell, and Deputy Warden of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Estella Rose, were presented with a trail sign from La Route verte; while the mayor of Riviere-Beaudette, Denis Brodeur, and Louis Carpentier of Velo Quebec accepted a Waterfront Trail sign as a symbol of the two trails connecting. Plans were announced for a future kiosk to mark the site of the Trail connection.

Establishing the connection between the two provincial trail systems opens exciting opportunities. Cycling from Montreal into Ontario is no longer an ambitious notion but a feasible adventure that we expect will have tremendous appeal to people. Velo Quebec has been promoting cycling tourism for decades and has commissioned research to show it pays to invest in cycling infrastructure. The result of their work is a seasoned cycling market that we are eager to welcome into Ontario.

As many of you know the Trust receives many calls over the year from people planning trips along the Trail. We receive calls from the USA, Quebec and one recently from a tour company in British Columbia, bringing a group of Europeans to Ontario.

TRAIL REOPENED AT CHERRY BEACH AND DARLINGTON PROVINCIAL PARK

Trail users should please take note that the following sections of Trail have been reopened:

Cherry Beach, Toronto:

The section of Waterfront Trail at Cherry Beach in Toronto has been reopened following a temporary closure from April-June. The closure was due to environmental restoration work being performed by Waterfront Toronto and the Toronto Economic Development Corporation.

For more information about the ongoing work being done in the Port Lands, please visit the Waterfront Toronto website at www.waterfrontoronto.ca.

Darlington Provincial Park, Clarington

The section of Waterfront Trail through Darlington Provincial Park has been reopened after a temporarily closure due to construction at the Oshawa border.

CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON DON RIVER PARK IN TORONTO

On June 25, construction officially began on a new waterfront park in Toronto’s West Don Lands. The 18-acre Don River Park will be situated on the Don River just north of the GO rail lines and is expected to be open to the public in 2009. Waterfront Trail users will be able to access this new amenity via an underpass at the Go rail lines at the southeast corner of the park.

The construction of the park is part of the revitalization of the West Don Lands, a project being undertaken by Waterfront Toronto in partnership with Toronto and Region Conservation and the Ontario Realty Corporation. For more information, please visit the Waterfront Toronto Website at www.waterfrontoronto.ca.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS:

GET PEACHY WITH THE TORONTO-NIAGARA BIKE TRAIN

Cyclists are being encouraged to take the Bike Train to Niagara on Saturday, August 11 to participate in Niagara-on-the-Lake's delightful summer Peach Festival. Queen Street, in the Historic District, will be the centre of the celebrations with a day of music, fun and lots of peaches from the Niagara Region's Greenbelt!
The Toronto-Niagara Bike Train is a new tourism initiative introducing bike racks onboard select VIA Rail Canada departures between Toronto and Niagara Falls this summer. The August 11-12 weekend departures follow the successful public launch on July 21 with the inaugural Bike Train sold out (capacity is 56 passengers with bikes).

The Bike Train provides travellers with a unique and sustainable way to discover the Niagara Region's renowned tourism and cycling opportunities. The price for a round-trip on the Bike Train between Toronto and Niagara Falls is $59 including taxes and bike rack reservation fees ($35 for a one-way trip).

Weekend getaway and day trip packages include options such as accommodations, restaurants, winery tours and tastings, guided bike tours, theatre tickets, parks and attraction passes.

For schedule information and reservations call 1-888-619-5987 or visit www.biketrain.ca.

Thanks to Justin Lafontaine for providing us with this announcement.

BUGS, BUTTERFLIES AND BIRDS

When: Saturday, August 11, 2007, 10 am
Where: Samuel Wilmot Nature Area, Clarington

Walk and learn about the intriguing Monarch butterfly as it prepares to fly south to Mexico. Expert naturalist James Kamstra will be on hand to discuss the Monarch as well as the many other insects and wildlife which inhabit this area.
Meet at the parking lot, south end of Cobbledick Road, Newcastle. Bring your nets and field guides.

QUAY TO A CLEAN LAKE

When: Sunday August 12, 2007
Where: Queen’s Quay Sailing and Powerboating, 275 Queen’s Quay West, Toronto

This event is being held to help bring attention to cleaning up Lake Ontario. Activities will include sailboat races, BBQ and a live band. For details, visit http://www.qqy.ca/quay_to_a_clean_lake/quay_to_a_clean_lake.html.

Thanks to Arthur from Queen’s Quay Sailing and Powerboating for providing us with this announcement.

TECHNICAL TOUR ON THE ROUTE VERTE

August 27 to 31, 2007: French-language technical tour
September 10 to 14, 2007: English-language technical tour

Vélo Québec is proud to present its Technical Tour on the Route verte to explore the various faces of the Route verte and learn about some of the technical aspects of its development. This tour is designed for route planners or managers, or anyone interested in learning more about how the Route verte was developed. The 5-day touring workshop offers an opportunity to explore urban greenways in Montreal and Quebec City as well as the fields and forests of the Montérégie, Eastern Townships, Centre-du-Québec and Chaudière-Appalaches regions. The bicycle outings range from 25 to 50 kilometers per day, to allow for breaks and technical discussions as well as picture-taking and site-seeing opportunities.

For more information, please visit http://www.routeverte.com/rv/ang/facts.lasso?page=sejourtechnique.

Thanks to Velo Quebec for providing us with this announcement.

WORLD RECORD WALK

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

The World Record Walk is aiming to break the existing Guinness World Record for the largest number of people walking one kilometer simultaneously, and what better place to walk than the Waterfront Trail! To register for the event, log on to www.worldrecordwalk.ca.

Cheers!

Marlaine Koehler, Executive Director;
Vicki Barron, Director of Administration and Special Projects;
Petrina Tulissi, Manager of Promotions and Events;
and David Arcus, Project Coordinator, Editor Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust
372 Richmond Street West, Suite 308
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1X6

Tel: 416-943-8080
Fax: 416-943-8068

Email: info@wrtrust.com

Visit http://www.waterfronttrail.org to download 77 online colour maps of the Waterfront Trail, from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville!

Thank You to our Supporters!:

• CIBC
• The Lake Ontario waterfront municipalities, conservation authorities and community groups
• The Eastern Lake Ontario­St.Lawrence Waterfront Working Group
• MapArt
• Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club
• Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee
• St. Lawrence Cement
• Tilley Endurables
• The Trust would also like to thank the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP) for its generous support of the 51 projects that comprise the Lake Ontario Waterfront Investment Program.