On November 1, 2007 the City of Toronto will be holding a consultation on the Centennial Park Master Plan. Centennial Park is located in the north west corner of Toronto in the former city of Etobicoke. There is an opportunity now to ensure that improvements for cyclists are included as a part of this plan. This would be consistent with the "Parks Renaissance Strategy" the Parks Forestry and Recreation division is developing which includes among its action items 1. Improving the Overall Quality of Parks and Trails and 5. Trails: Build a Significant Trail System. (See Previous Article). A major Bikeway Network Route runs through part of this park and there is the potential to continue it on and connect the Bikeway Network in Toronto to Mississauga's network of bike paths. There are also opportunities to build facilities for cyclists within the park. Whether or not the final plan incorporates these improvements will rest upon the outcome of the consultations so it is important that cyclists attend the public forum. The details of the meeting are as follows:

• Open House at 6:00 PM
• Presentation at 6:30 PM
• Workshop to follow presentation
• Wrap-up at 8:00.

There is currently a bike route in Centennial Park which is in need of upgrading. The Centennial Park Master Plan offers an opportunity to upgrade it, extend it and connect it to a newly constructed path and bridge over Etobicoke Creek which links up with Mississauga's Etobicoke Creek Trail.

In 2007 the City of Toronto, in conjunction with the City of Missisauga, have completed some work to extend a trail northward along Etobicoke Creek. A bridge has been constructed over the creek that forms the border between the two cities and a path has been paved part of the way between Etobicoke Creek and Centennial Park Blvd. This is carrying out one of the recommendations of the Toronto Bike Plan 5-7: Establish Seamless Connections with Neighbouring Municipalities-That the City work with neighbouring municipalities to create seamless bikeway connections across municipal boundaries.

This path was paved in 2007 by the City of Toronto leading to a new bridge that was installed as a joint project with the City of Mississauga. This new path is indicated by the dark green line on the map above. The orange line from there to Centennial Park Blvd. is the section that has not been paved yet.(Click photo to see location of photo.)

This excellent new piece of cycling infrastructure is currently disconnected from the rest of Toronto's Bikeway network. The paving stops a couple of hundred metres from Centennial Park Blvd. Cyclists can currently access it by riding over the gravel driveway of the City of Toronto's compost yard.

As of September 22, 2007 the paving of the new path from Centennial Park to Etobicoke Creek has only been partially completed. Following the gravel driveway will bring cyclists to Centennial Blvd. (Click photo to see location of photo.)

This new path along Etobicoke Creek could be connected to the boulevard path that runs along the south side of Eglinton Avenue by completing the route through Centennial Park. This would require some new path and upgrades to existing path in Centennial Park. There are actually paths that you can follow within the park to make the connection, but they vary in condition from old narrow asphalt paths in the Hydro corridor to wide trails with screenings in the main part of the park to the gravel path near Centennial Park Boulevard. The Master Plan should include plans to construct a paved path up to current standards for a recreational path.

Here is the connector path from the end of the Eglinton Path and the path through the hydro corridor that is part of Centennial Park. (Click photo to see photo location)

The path in the Hydro Corridor in Centennial Park is paved but it is narrow and should be widened and resurfaced. (Click photo to see photo location)

There are paths through Centennial Park that could connect the new path over the Etobicoke Creek and the Eglinton path. They are currently have a gravel or screenings surface. (Click photo to see photo location)

Completing the bicycle paths in Centennial Park would create an 11 km off-street bike path from the Etobicoke Creek to Jane Street which would also link to the Humber Trail system. This would be the backbone of the Bikeway Network in north western Toronto. To make this route truly safe and enjoyable for cyclists there also needs to be upgrades to the Eglinton Path from Mimico Creek to the eastern end of a hydro corridor that forms a part of the park. This would probably be out of the scope of the Centennial Park Masterplan, but it could be a project that Transportation Services could undertake as part of their cycling infratructure plans.

The section of the Eglinton Path between Mimco Creek and Centennial Park is badly in need of upgrades.

Over the past few years the Transportation Services have been upgrading the Eglinton Boulevard path (Bike Route 22) from Mimico Creek to Royal York Road with some excellent results. The path continues on to the Humber Trail and reaches its terminus at Jane Street.

The upgraded Eglinton path seen here just west of Martingrove could be extended right to the border of Missisauga. (click photo to see photo location)

The design principles set out in the consultation documents that have been used as the master plan has been developed include the statement that one of the roles of Centennial Park is that it is a key linkage in the City wide system of trails, bikepaths. It is important to ensure that this design principle is maintained and that the cycling routes in the park get constructed in the early phase of the implementation of the plan. Toronto's parks are one of the key destinations for Toronto cyclists. They also provide for linkages for those who use the bikeway network for commuting and utilitarian bicycle trips. The Master Plan for Centennial Park should consider the bicycle as the primary means to get to and through the park.

Martin Koob
info@biketoronto.ca