Press Release - West Scarborough Rail Trail hike connects Torontonians to the Greenbelt
West Scarborough
Rail Trail hike connects Torontonians to the Greenbelt
As the provincial government threatens to remove protections for Ontario’s Greenbelt with Bill 23, the Scarborough Junction Community invites Torontonians to hike the proposed West Scarborough Rail Trail on Saturday, November 26 at 1 p.m. to support the trail’s development and ensure Scarborough’s connection to the Greenbelt becomes a reality.
The Scarborough Junction Community’s Rail Trail Rangers will lead four hikes ranging from 2km to 15km in length along the West Scarborough Rail Trail. The proposed trail runs from southwest Scarborough all the way to Rouge National Urban Park and the Greenbelt. Hikers of all skill levels can join to demonstrate their support for the trail and the preservation of the Greenbelt, and their opposition to Bill 23.
“Bill 23 threatens to diminish the Greenbelt and the responsibility of conservation authorities to protect the region’s few remaining natural areas even as we’re fighting to establish new public green spaces like the West Scarborough Rail Trail,” said Misha Perozak, founder of the Scarborough Junction Community. “This abandoned rail line has been neglected for decades despite the fact that the trail was first proposed more than 50 years ago, but today it is Scarborough’s best connection to the Greenbelt.”
The Scarborough Junction Community’s vision for the trail includes a multi-use pedestrian and cycling trail featuring native plants and trees that connects the surrounding neighbourhoods to new and existing parks, playgrounds, pollinator gardens, public transit, commercial destinations, the Meadoway, the Greenbelt, and more.
The four hikes led by the Scarborough Junction
Community’s Rail Trail Rangers will begin at the Warden
Hilltop Community Centre near Warden subway station and follow the
proposed West Scarborough Rail Trail along the Scarborough Hydro Green Space,
the Meadoway, and the Gatineau Hydro Corridor Trail:
●
Family Hike – 2 km/30 min from Warden Hilltop
C.C. to Birchmount Rd. and back.
●
Beginner Hike – 4 km/45 min from Warden
Hilltop C.C. to Kennedy Subway Station and back
●
Intermediate Hike – 7 km/90 min from Warden
Hilltop C.C. to the Meadoway and back
●
Advanced Hike – 15 km/3.5 hrs from Warden
Hilltop C.C. to Rouge National Urban Park one way (self-shuttle or pick up
required for this hike).
For more information including the approximate timeline for the hike waypoints, GPS co-ordinates for the self-shuttle/pick up location at Rouge National Urban Park, visit the Scarborough Junction Community website.
To learn more about or join the Rail Trail
Rangers/Junior Rangers, email info@scarboroughjunction.org.
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About
the Scarborough Junction Community
The SJC was formed in 2022 to identify the
impacts of development on the neighbourhood, and give residents a strong,
united voice to communicate their interests to politicians, city planners, and
developers with a focus on maintaining the integrity of the existing
neighbourhood and building toward a complete community for the future. To learn
more and join the association, please visit www.scarboroughjunction.org.