Waterfront Trail and Greenway News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

The waterfront municipalities of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, Conservation Authorities and community groups* MapArt* DunMap* Niagara Region Integrated Community Planning Department* MMM Group* Heart and Stroke Foundation* Mountain Equipment Co-op* Toronto Cyclists Union*
Holcium (formerly St. Lawrence Cement)

October 2009

What’s Inside

• Goodbye to David Arcus
• 2009 Partner’s Meeting
• 2010 GWTA Route
• Promoting the 2010 GWTA
  -GWTA Posters available for order (contact il@wrtrust.com)
  -web artwork and flash button available for your website
• Great Waterfront Trail Adventure:
• Results from participant surveys
• Partner Survey Results:
  Evaluation of the Trust by partners
• Partnership with the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa)
• St. Lawrence River Recreation Trail becomes the
  Cornwall & Seaway Valley Waterfront Trail
• The Bike Train Initiative
• Peel Region’s Web-Based Active Transportation Mapping
• George Nicholson Trail—Dedication on the Greater Niagara Circle Route to honour a Trail Champion
• Carolinian Canada Coalition Forum 2009
  Caring For Our Coast: Envisioning A Lake Erie Community Stewardship Trail Network

Good-bye & thank you David Arcus

If you read the Ezine, if you participated in the Waterfront Investment Program or in the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure, if you are one of the 6 M who visit our award winning website, or buy the map book, then you probably have had the pleasure of working with David Arcus.
 
He has been a project co-ordinator extraordinaire with us for 5 years and yesterday was his last day.
 
What you may not know about David is that he is a talented musician and producer. During the past year, his musical career has become busier and very successful—enough so that it requires his full-time attention. We wish him every success and will keep you all posted on the release of his upcoming CD!
 
Thank you so much David, the office will not be the same without you. We will miss you very much.

2009 Partners Meetings

To wrap up the 2nd Annual Great Waterfront Trail Adventure (GWTA), we convened two partners meetings; one in the west at Creekside Winery in Niagara, and the second at Books & Company in Picton. It was clear from the presentations that the waterfront partnership is enthusiastic about the GTWA. Even as we reviewed 2009 and unveiled the route for 2010, we received interest from communities to be overnight locations in 2011, and 2012...it is never too early to get the ball rolling. If you are interested in hosting a stop in the future, email Ian at il@wrtrust.com.
 
Presentations below are available in pdf format. Click the links below to download.

• Review of the GWTA 2009 and new Route for the GWTA 2010
• Partnership with the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) and Health and Wellness Theme for 2010 (Niagara)
• Partnership with the Association of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa) and Health and Wellness Theme for 2010 (Picton)
• The Bike Train Initiative
• Canada 55+ Games scheduled for August 2010
• Update on the Waterfront Investment Program
  

New 2010 GWTA Route

Day 1 Sat. July 3 Niagara-on-the-Lake to Hamilton 80 km
Day 2 Sun. July 4 Hamilton to Pickering 105 km
Day 3 Mon. July 5 Pickering to Cobourg 105 km
Day 4 Tues. July 6 Cobourg to Picton 125 km
Day 5 Wed. July 7 Picton to Ivy Lea 120 km
Day 6 Thurs. July 8 Ivy Lea to Johnstown 70 km
Day 7 Fri. July 9 Johnstown to Cornwall 85 km
Day 8 Sat. July 10 Cornwall to Riviere Beaudette 40 km

Help Promote 2010 GWTA in your community

Posters promoting the 2010 GWTA are available for order (the artwork is attached to this ezine) by emailing il@wrtrust.com.
Please find attached a graphic that can be used on your website to promote your community’s involvement in the GWTA.

Great Waterfront Trail Adventure: results from participant surveys

The GWTA Participant Survey for 2009 demonstrate that the event is creating a new cycling tourism market and generates return visits to Waterfront Trail Communities. 30% of the riders represent ‘heads in beds” as they opt for an alternative to camping. Participating waterfront restaurants participating recognized the promotional value of the GWTA in getting their businesses known. Jackie MacDugall of Dugall’s on the Bay in Brighton said the tour represented profit for her business. They sold 130 lunches in a 3-hour period. Highlights from the survey follow:

Participant Profile and Economic Benefits
• Riders ages 5-78, Men/Women 50/50
• 12 Mayors & Councillors rode all or part of the Adventure 12 others met the group
• 252 Riders
• 30 Volunteers, 5 Provinces, 6 States, 4 Countries
• 100% said they had either a “Great time” or “Pretty Good”
• 95% indicated that the Adventure exceeded or met their expectations
• 88% indicated they would recommend the GWTA to family and friends
• 86% will take future cycling vacations
• 71% camped
• 64% non-camping participants booked accommodations via WT website
• 87% indicated the Waterfront Trail offers wonderful holiday opportunities
• 80% to return to a waterfront community that they had not previously visited prior to GWTA
Priorities for the trail:
• 87% close the gaps
• 47% establish connections into towns and other trail systems
• 46% move the trail closer to the water’s edge
• 46% more signage
Waterfront issues that most concern them:
• 57% loss of natural habitats
• 46% the disappearance of coastal wetlands
• 53% lack of connected public access
• 51% lack of walkable/cycleable routes to and from the waterfront

Partner Survey Results

In late October the Trust sent an on-line survey to all partners. There were 7 questions exploring your views on the GWTA and our performance.
An overwhelming percentage of respondents cited the promotional benefits as the primary benefit to the community for participating in the GWTA. 100% support the GWTA as an annual event and 88% believe there is a lasting benefit for their communities in their involvement. In the main, the Trust received ratings of either Excellent or Good in the areas that partners defined as important. These are, in order of importance:
1. Leading a Safe Tour
2. Attracting positive Media coverage; and tied for the third position,
3. Coordinating the participation of Communities; Promoting Ride to the Public and Measuring results

Missed the survey? If you are a waterfront partner and wish to complete the survey, please email mk@wrtrust.com to make arrangements.

Partnership with the Association Of Local Public Health Agencies (alPHa)

Linda Stewart, Executive Director of alPHa presented on the 2010 GWTA theme of health and wellness and provided a description of how the public health units could become involved in the organization of the event. In 2010 working with alPHa partners we hope to further improve the nutritional value and variety of the meals offered on the Adventure; offer web-based training resources for registrants; coordinate warm-up and cool-down sessions during the tour.

St. Lawrence River Recreation Trail officially becomes the Cornwall and Seaway Valley Waterfront Trail

Mike Lalonde of the Cornwall and Seaway Valley announced that the St. Lawrence River Recreation Trail would now be known as The Cornwall and Seaway Valley Waterfront Trail. The name change reduces signage costs since they no longer need to maintain and install two types of signs, and allows the area to benefit from and contribute to the growing brand of the Waterfront Trail.

The Bike Train Initiative

This award-winning tourism initiative is providing hassle-free rail service to cyclists interested in exploring the Waterfront Trail. It has sold out every year of its operation and is inspiring a number of new industry partnerships aimed at servicing cyclists. This year the Bike Train signed the route from Train stations to the Waterfront Trail for patrons. In 2009 the service was expanded successfully to North Bay. In 2010 a train from Toronto to Windsor will be added to service the Lake Erie area. Check the website for the Bike Train’s informative presentation.

Peel Region’s Web-Based Active Transportation Mapping

This is an exciting new project that plots all of Peel Region’s trails and cycling routes on a Google-based map. Peel Region is working with its 3 municipalities and approaching neighbouring cities to seek their participation at a future date. Currently trails are not recognized on Google maps, so they are of limited value to anyone who wants to map a trails as part of their route. The pilot mapping program will be tested by the Trust and partners in Spring in 2010. If successful, this project will establish a protocol that could be used throughout the province. Thanks to Richard Roberts of Mississauga and Keri Baxter of Peel Region for the presentation.

George Nicholson Trail

On October 8th, the last portion of the Greater Niagara Route to be completed was named the George Nicholson Trail. The name honours an incredible trail leader and man, George Nicholson of the Region of Niagara. George passed away suddenly last year just a short time after his retirement. The Greater Niagara Circle Route is one of George’s many legacies.

Carolinian Canada Coalition Forum 2009
Caring For Our Coast: Envisioning A Lake Erie Community Stewardship Trail Network

On October 22-23 approximately 80 people convened to explore the possibilities, benefits and risks associated with creating a network of trails to celebrate Lake Erie’s unique Carolinian/Great Lake landscape. The Trust presented a background on how Ontario’s Waterfront Trail was created and the numerous benefits it has made to waterfront regeneration. Through our presentation we strongly encouraged:

• a linear trail that would encompass the north shore of Lake Erie. We noted that the connection to Lake Ontario’s Waterfront Trail is in place. The linear trail would serve as the backbone to a series of connected loops and side trails in the Carolinian forest;
• use roads to create connections when lakeshore trail was unavailable currently;
• make it a priority to sign a complete route using interim routes to close as many gaps as possible;
• work with the willing--especially municipalities and conservation authorities that share the vision;
• identify and fund an organization to act as the guardian of the vision and the coordinator of the partnership;
• identify a list of potential trail projects that could be used to form a request to senior government;
• develop tools e.g. maps, resources for trail users that are available on the website; and
• celebrate progress and involve the public by hosting events such as the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure.

In addition to protecting and restoring the Carolinian Coastline, creating a trail to celebrate Lake Erie extends the great work that has been done and is underway on Lake Ontario. Together they could be part of an exciting strategy to promote our national inland sea--the Great Lakes.

Cheers!

Marlaine Koehler, Executive Director;
Vicki Barron, Director of Administration and Regenaration Initiatives
Ian Lobb, Tour Director, Great Waterfront Trail Adventure

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 Ontario Trillium Foundation
• The Heart and Stroke Foundation
• MapArt
• Dunmap
• Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club
• Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee