The Concept Plan for a new 'Lake Ontario Park' was presented to a standing room only crowd on January 17, 2007 at an event hosted by the Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corporation (TWRC). The organizers of the event were surprised by the turnout. It is understandable though. The scope of the plan is huge, it takes in an almost 8 km stretch of Toronto's waterfront from Cherry Beach in the west to the RC Harris Filtration Plant in the east. It includes the Leslie Street Spit which reaches out over 5 km into Lake Ontario. These lands are much loved and much used parts of the waterfront. The uses vary along the length of this shoreline. Cycling along the Martin Goodman Trail or out onto the Leslie Spit, sailing in the Outer Harbour, bird watching on the Spit, wind surfing along Cherry Beach, walking along the boardwalk in the Eastern Beaches, canoeing in Ashbridges Bay, swimming, playing beach volley ball, running, sunbathing, and I am sure many more. The crowd was there to make sure if there were going to be changes the changes had better be done right.

The Lake Ontario Park Concept Plan was presented on January 17th, 2007 by the Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corporation.

It took an hour to go through the presentation. The presenter, landscape architect James Corner, presented the plan in broad strokes. While he talked about the expansion of beaches and recreational facilities he also emphasized the goal of retaining the wild qualities of the area. He spoke carefully as he presented some of the more dramatic changes, perhaps expecting protests from the crowd. For example there are some quite dramatic changes around Ashbridges Bay where the existing Ashbridges Bay up to Coatsworth Cut is turned into a wetland and an new sheltered body of water for canoeists is created by altering the land form of Ashbridges Bay Park. You can download the presentation at the following link: Presentation - Lake Ontario Park Public Forum #2 - January 17 2007 (pdf).

The plan used the concept of transects to organize the ideas. They outlined three transects, the spit, the bar and the beach. The spit transect follows the 5.7 km spine of the Leslie Street Spit. The bar transect is a 4.4 km line that runs from Cherry Beach to Ashbridges Bay and roughly follows the Martin Goodman Trail. The beach transect is a 4 km line that runs from Ashbridges Bay along the Eastern Beaches to the R.C. Harris Filtration Plant again this mostly follows the Martin Goodman Trail. The Concept Plan did not give details as to what the transects would look like or how they would function. They were presented as primarily pedestrian, but cycling was mentioned as an activity. A couple of cross sections showed they range from 7 m wide paths to 10 m wide paths. In some diagrams the Martin Goodman Trail is shown as a separate trail that does not follow these transects. In others the transects appear as the trail. Granted this is just the concept plan, without all of the details, however it will be important to ensure that the final designs are ones that maintain and improve access for cyclists through this section of the water front and improve upon the Martin Goodman Trail as Toronto's waterfront trail. As well the Leslie Spit is currently one of the best places to ride 'out of the city' while still being in the City. The eventual designs should maintain this use and again improve upon it.

The purpose of the meeting was to gather feedback from the public on the plan. This is the first of a series of steps in developing a final Master Plan that is scheduled to be completed in September of 2007. The draft Master Plan will be ready in June 2007. You can provide feedback on the plan in various ways. There is a workbook that you can download, print, fillout and mail in to the Toronto Waterfront Revitilization Corportation. Workbook - Lake Ontario Park Public Forum #2 - January 17 2007 (pdf). The address and fax number where it should be sent are included in the work book. You can also send an e-mail with your thoughts to lakeontariopark(a)towaterfront.ca( replace (a) with @ in e-mail program). The deadline for getting feedback in on this Concept Plan is January 31, 2007. This is an excellent opportunity to reshape and revitilize our waterfront. By getting involved you can help ensure it is done right.