Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

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

June 2007

In this issue:

• Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day
• Trails Ahead Conference Program
• Clarington Trail Opening
• Design Unveiled for Great Lakes Wetland Centre
• Delisting Hamilton Harbour: Randle Reef
• Classroom Mini Marsh Program Spearheaded by BARC and RBG
• Introducing Eireann Quay

Upcoming Conferences and Community Events:

• Trails Ahead Conference
• Whitby Harbour Days
• World Record Walk

WATERFRONT TRAIL AND GREENWAY DAY

Sept. 20th is shaping up to be the first ever Waterfront Trail and Greenway Day as proclaimed by municipal partners along Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River. Our plans to celebrate include a bike ride from Mississauga to Pickering and we hope all the waterfront communities will take part in this inaugural ride that will showcase the Waterfront Trail as a provincial amenity. Ajax Mayor Steve Parish and Kingston Councillor Vicki Schmolka have confirmed their attendance, and we welcome you to join us as well. For more information call the Waterfront Regeneration Trust at 416-943-8080 or e-mail Marlaine Koehler at mk@wrtrust.com.

THE TRAIL AHEAD CONFERENCE

The Trust has just released the program for The Trail Ahead Conference. A downloadable version can be found at www.waterfronttrail.org/wn-conference.html. An exciting agenda has been put together with first rate speakers that will guide our discussions about the Waterfront Trail and Greenway’s future. The program has relevance to any community with a waterfront interested in developing multi community marketing. The early bird fee is available until July 16th.

Click here for more information, or phone us at 416-943-8080, or e-mail mk@wrtrust.com.

CLARINGTON TRAIL OPENING

On May 25, 2007 Clarington Mayor Jim Abernethy, Revenue Minister Michael Chan representing Tourism Minister Jim Bradley, local MPP John O’Toole and Marlaine Koehler of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust gathered to celebrate the completion of two major improvements to Clarington’s Waterfront Trail.
Minister Bev Oda sent her congratulations.

• Improvements to the Samuel Wilmot Nature to establish secondary trails from the Waterfront Trail to the bluffs and the stunning lakeside view. A barrier-free viewing platform was constructed under the shade mature trees overlooking Newcastle Marsh at the mouth of Wilmot Creek. It provides a comfortable place for nature/bird watching and quiet contemplation. Samuel Wilmot Nature Area protects 77 hectares of stream valley lands and a Class 2 Provincially Significant wetland, as Clarington begins to see major expansion of residential development on its shores.
  
  
• Improvements to the Waterfront Trail through Bowmanville Harbour Conservation Area to move the Waterfront Trail off-road by constructing a pedestrian bridge over Bowmanville Creek. The Bowmanville and Westside marshes are two provincially significant coastal wetlands and represent over 80 hectares of restored natural habitats (work continues to create quality natural habitats). The Waterfront Trail (2 kms) runs through this area, and with the completion of this project, the trail is off-road where it formally followed a severe curve in West Beach Road.

The Municipality of Clarington constructed these two projects with support from the Canada Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP).

Clarington’s Waterfront Trail is one of the longest at 38 km. With the completion of the COIP projects and several other waterfront projects, the Municipality will have established a continuous (though not entirely
off-road) trail this year. For example, thanks to the Municipality’s determination, the gap at the Wilmot Retirement Community will be closed with the construction of the 1.7 km trail just north of the Community. With the completion of this path, gone will be one of the favourite complaints by trail users!

As well the Municipality has made bold investments in the acquisition of waterfront lands at Port Darlington and Bondhead for future waterfront parks, and constructed 1 km of trail at the water’s edge by the Port of
Newcastle.

DESIGN UNVIELED FOR GREAT LAKES WETLAND CENTRE

Friends of Second Marsh invited supporters to join them as they unveiled the new design drawing for the Great Lakes Wetland Centre. Friends of Second Marsh is actively engaged in planning for the construction of the Great Lakes Wetlands Centre to be located on a site located immediately adjacent to Second Marsh on Colonel Sam Drive between General Motors of Canada Ltd. corporate offices and Darlington Provincial Park.

To view drawings of the new designs, visit the Friends of Second Marsh website at http://secondmarsh.science.uoit.ca/GLWC.html

DELISTING HAMILTON HARBOUR: RANDLE REEF

Source: Bringing Back the Bay, Spring 2007, Bay Area Restoration Council
barc@hamiltonharbour.ca

BARC is moving steadily toward delisting Hamilton Harbour as an Area of Concern in 2015. The chief remaining challenge is the cleanup of contaminated sediment at Randle Reef.

Located in the shallow water to the west of Stelco’s Dock 16 at the foot of Sherman Avenue (Map 1-12), Randle Reef is the most contaminated site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes. The volume of the contaminated material at the Reef site would fill Hamilton’s Copps Coliseum three times over. Hamilton Harbour cannot be delisted as an Area of Concern until this source of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) to the harbour ecosystem is removed.

After numerous multi-stakeholder consultations a plan has been crafted. On top of Randle Reef, an engineered containment facility (ECF) will be constructed to contain and cap the contaminated sediment and prevent further release of PAHs. The 7.5 hectare structure will hold the most contaminated sediment. A secondary ECF will be constructed adjacent to Pier 15 to hold less contaminated sediment. Combined the two EFCs will isolate approximately 90% of the contaminates of concern to Hamilton Harbour. The expected life service of the EFC is 200 years.

Once capped approximately 5 ha of the ECF will be used as a port facility. The remainder will be green space.

2008: Final engineering design completed, Environmental Assessment process
2008/09: Construction begins
2015: Construction complete
Budget: $90 million over 7 years

CLASSROOM MINI MARSH PROGRAM SPEARHEADED BY BARC AND RBG

Source: Bringing Back the Bay, Spring 2007, Bay Area Restoration Council
barc@hamiltonharbour.ca

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of the Teachers Credit Union, BARC and RBG provided free mini marsh kits to 276 local classrooms. As the plants grow, students discover the significance of native aquatic plant and animal species to our watershed. Often teachers learn themselves for the first time of the importance of marshes and wetlands to ecological health. Many classes return their Mini Marshes to the Royal Botanical Gardents to be planted in Cootes Paradise.

INTRODUCING EIREANN QUAY

Source: CommunityAir.org June Newsletter

The short stretch of Bathurst Street south of Queens Quay is undergoing a significant makeover, thanks to local Toronto councilor, Adam Vaughan. The changes will transform the street from a wide concrete expanse to a smaller street that fits in better with the school, park and community centre that surround it, as well as the vibrant Bathurst Quay neighbourhood as a whole.

Firstly, at the April 2007 meeting of Toronto City Council, the street was renamed Eireann Quay in honour of the beautiful new Ireland Park, which is located at the bottom of the street south of the Malting Silos. The park, which will be opened on June 21 by Irish President Mary McAleese, honours the role that the Irish community has played in the development of Toronto and remembers the 38,000 Irish immigrants who arrived at Toronto’s shores in 1847 after fleeing famine at home.

UPCOMING CONFERENCES AND COMMUNITY EVENTS

TRAILS AHEAD CONFERENCE

September 19th and 20th, 2007

The remarkable regeneration projects, noting the rich range of physical, ecological, and social linkages that have transformed the waterfront will be explored at this unique and important conference. As well, international perspectives on global trends in waterfront regeneration will be presented and discussed.
The early bird fee is available until July 16th.

Click here for more information, or phone us at 416-943-8080, or e-mail mk@wrtrust.com.

WHITBY HARBOUR DAYS

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

Professional water skiers, live music, and a nautical parade are just some the events taking place at Whitby Harbour Days. The festivities begin at noon and end with a fireworks display at dusk. For more information on this free event log on to www.whitby.ca.

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.