On September 29th, 2006 the first phase of the Port Union Waterfront Park was officially opened. Hundreds of people showed up to watch the ceremonies lead by Toronto Mayor David Miller and local Councillor Gay Cowbourne Ward 44 - Scarbourough East, MP Peter Van Loan, and MPP Mary Anne Chambers; and then try out the new trail for themselves. Local residents had eagerly waited to see exactly what was happening south of the railway tracks on the waters edge. What they were wanting to see was the park and a new 1.4 km trail that stretches from the foot of Port Union Road west to the mouth of Highland Creek which then connects to the eastern terminus of the Highland Creek Trail via a new bridge constructed as part of the project.

Looking east from Port Union Waterfront Park's lookout hill you can see the new trail trace the shoreline towards highland creek.

This trail is part of a larger project that is being undertaken by the Toronto Region Conservation Authority in conjunction with the Toronto Waterfront Revitalization Corporation. You can see the project website here: TWRC Port Union Waterfront Improvement Project Phase II of the project will continue the trail another 2.2 km east to Rouge Beach. There is another .6 km section of this trail that would continue from Highland Creek west to Beechgrove Avenue. That section was supposed to be paved this year by the City of Toronto with money from the 2006 Parks Forestry and Recreation Bikeway Network Expansion budget. It did not happen in time for the opening.

This map shows the location of the new trail 'Phase I', the location of the next phase under construction, 'Phase II' and the section that is to be paved by the City of Toronto.

Riding along the trail you can see the shore line improvements done as part of the projects.

Hundreds of local residents came out to see the new park and trail.

A new bridge over the foot of Highland Creek connects to the Highland Creek Trail and what will be a continuation of the trail west to Beechgrove Drive.

Looking west from the Highland Creek bridge you can see that the section of Trail from Highland Creek west to Beechgrove Drive had not been paved in time for the opening of the new trail.

This is a wonderful addition to Toronto's Bikeway network. It connects with the Highland Creek Trail which, in my opinion, is Toronto's best ravine trial. Riding from the foot of Port Union east along the new trail and then following the Highland Creek Trail to its western terminus near the Guildwood GO station you have a 10 km of uninterrupted trail. (Well, except for where the trail is washed out under Morninside Avenue bridge. This was damaged in a storm a couple of years ago and has yet to be fixed. See picture below).

A section of the Highland Creek Trail remains washed out spoiling this otherwise excellent trail.

When Phase II is completed it will link up with the Waterfront trail through Pickering and Ajax which feature some excellent trails and views. The Toronto Bike Plan recommends bike lanes on Port Union Road from the new trail up to Kingston Road. This would connect with the existing bike lanes on Sheppard and would provide a safe direct route for Scarbourough cyclists down to the new waterfront trail. You can see all the plans for the bikeway network in Ward 44 on the following document from the TCAT website. Proposed Ward 44 bike routes. (If you want to see the Port Union bike lanes and other parts of the bikeway network constructed check out the TCAT website www.TorontoCAT.ca and get active in the 2006 municipal election.