City blazing the way for Red Hill bike loop trail

[LikeHamilton]

City blazing the way for Red Hill loop trail

Richard Leitner Jun 06, 2008 Mountain News

John Savoia is already shifting into gear at the thought of taking his bike on the East Mountain Loop Trail once it opens.

Of particular interest to this avid cyclist is the multi-use, paved trail's links to the new Eramosa Karst Conservation Area and Valley Park in Stoney Creek.

The Karst will have its own series of looped trails. Other scenic points on the trek will include Felker's Falls, the Red Hill Valley, Albion Falls and Mount Albion Conservation Area.

"This is fantastic. This is what we need," said Mr. Savoia, 40, who lives near Limeridge Mall and looks forward to riding on the dedicated bike lane on Stone Church Road to reach the trail, which will range from three to four metres wide.

"In a round trip, I could easily get 30 clicks in, in a safe manner," he said.

Mr. Savoia was among a dozen residents who attended a presentation about the 10-kilometre loop trail during an open house at Winterberry Heights Church last week.

A joint project of the City and the Hamilton Conservation Authority, the $3.5 million trail is part of efforts to compensate for the 70 hectares of natural space lost to the Red Hill Creek Parkway.

City landscape architect Cynthia Graham said work on the first of the trail's four phases is set to begin this fall.

The initial section will start at Felker's Falls Conservation Authority and run west along the escarpment through Paramount Park and connect to the existing Red Hill Valley Trail by Upper Mount Albion Road and Old Mud Street.

The stretch needs a development permit from the Niagara Escarpment Commission and must undergo an archaeological study before the project proceeds.

Ms. Graham said securing the permit and undergoing the study is not expected to hold work up, "but we never know," she cautioned.

Future phases will also require funding approval from city council's annual budget process, she said.

The second phase, scheduled for next year, will start at Upper Mount Albion Road, south of Highland Road, and run east through the Karst before turning northeast to follow an existing corridor between two subdivisions to Valley Park.

The third phase, planned for 2010, will connect the section between Valley Park and Felker's Falls, and close up the two remaining portions of the loop. One of these sections will start at the Albion Falls Park and run east to connect to the Red Hill Valley Trail at Upper Mount Albion Road.

The other section will extend southward to the Lincoln Alexander Parkway at Arbour Road.

From the other side, it will continue southward for a stretch, then turn east through Mount Albion Conservation Area and provincially owned land to connect to phase two.

The fourth and most expensive phase, estimated at a cost of $2 million, will provide a trail bridge over the Linc at Arbour Road. Creation of phase four is expected to begin in 2014.

Robert Norman, city manager of open space development and park planning, said the trail is expected to be completed within 10 years.

The trail's $3.5-million price tag doesn't include land acquisition by the bridge, he said. The city has already purchased two properties there, but needs to buy some more land from abutting homeowners.

Once completed, the loop trail will form part of a network that will eventually run down the Red Hill Valley and follow a pedestrian bridge over the QEW to hook into the Waterfront Trail Train the lakeshore.

[thistleclub]

I love the fact that once all the pieces are in place that you'll be able to cycle from the Eramosa Karst to Confederation Park. But as an act of penance the optics are kind of funny. To offset running 8km of four-lane freeway through a valley they're, um, laying 10km of paved trail 3-4m wide, basically a carless single-lane street, through parkland and conservation lands. But maybe I'm just cranky because I haven't had my morning coffee.

Anyway, here's a piece I found from the Spring 2008 issue of Ontario Home Builder:

Getting Back to Nature
HCA plans East Mountain trail loop and new conservation area

Once fundraising is complete the construction dust will settle, opening ceremony ribbons will be snipped and Hamilton residents will have a new conservation area as well as a 10-kilometre multi-purpose trail in one of the fastest growing areas of the city.

Hamilton Conservation Authority (HCA) is planning both projects in the Stoney Creek Mountain and East Hamilton Mountain areas as cornerstones to its 50th anniversary celebration in 2008.

Land assembly for the development of the Eramosa Karst Conservation Area is complete. The Heritage Green Community Trust has already generously donated $1.5 million in development and future maintenance funding.

A conservation centre is planned for the karst property to inform visitors about the area, including the provincially significant karst features, the Niagara Escarpment, the archaeology of the Red Hill Valley and the natural history of the green space. Elementary and high school students will use it as a base for field studies in adjacent natural areas. It will also be the starting point for the trail system.

The new trail will result from a multi-partner strategy to replace the full length of the paved Red Hill Creek Expressway with open space. The strategy has received strong support from major community business and environmental groups, including the Hamilton Naturalists’ Club, the Bruce Trail Association and the Stoney Creek and Hamilton chambers of commerce.

Combined, the resulting benefits of both projects are more than simply new public assets or recreational infrastructure. Large natural areas with strong connecting corridors always make for superior wildlife habitat. Invariably, significant wildlife and plant species make their homes in them, even in urban areas.

The value of open space and natural corridors to both the average person and the community at large is considerable. The public is identifying walking and using trails as its number one recreational activity.

From an economic point of view, the closer residential properties are to natural areas, the higher their values. Essential for leisure activities, organized sports and cultural endeavours, open space increases the quality of life for urban residents. Exploring natural places gives us feelings of renewal, well-being and a sense of harmony with the broader community that counter-balance the stress and strain of modern life.

These “quality of life” factors help local business and industry attract new employees. The health benefits translate into economic savings as healthier people require fewer visits to doctors and hospitals.

Open spaces also provide outdoor environmental education opportunities. Trees not only offset the effects of air pollution, they give wildlife their homes. Without trees, there are no homes and, without homes, wildlife moves on or dies. There must be habitat before there is wildlife – it’s never the other way around. So, natural areas enrich our lives, allow us to be healthy and help us cultivate our “higher” selves. They also ensure there are always places for those magical encounters between humans and wildlife.

The East Mountain Multi-use Trail loop plan assembles 85 hectares of land to create a trail linking 155 hectares of existing public open space. It will link Eramosa Karst to a number of other HCA and City of Hamilton properties on the Niagara Escarpment. It will ultimately result in 240 hectares of parkland on the doorstep of one of Hamilton’s fastest growing communities, connected to the Red Hill trail system, the Bruce Trail and the rail trail to Caledonia.

Completion of the trail is dependent on current HCA fundraising activities. HCA is appealing to the home building industry to assist in ensuring the trail and all derivative benefits become a reality for community residents. You can help by becoming involved with the fundraising campaign or by making a contribution.

Approximately 3.1 kilometres of the 10-kilometre asphalt trail is on Authority property and will be developed by HCA. The total cost for HCA’s portion is estimated at $662,300 or $220 per metre. The HCA portion of the trail will have six interpretive kiosks and benches every 500 metres. It will be four metres wide and used for walking, jogging, cycling and rollerblading.

In its 50 years of community service, HCA has gained a reputation as an expert trail developer. HCA currently manages more than 120 kilometres of trail, including the 40-kilometre Dundas Valley trail system, the 16-kilometre Chippawa Rail Trail, which connects Hamilton to Caledonia and will link to the East Mountain Trail Loop at Mount Albion Conservation Area, and the 32-kilometre multi-use Hamilton to Brantford Rail Trail which runs from Ewen Road in west Hamilton through the Dundas Valley Conservation Area to Brantford. It is Canada’s first fully developed, multi-use interurban trail system. It’s also a part of the Trans Canada Trail network. Links to Paris and Cambridge extend the trail to 80 kilometers.