Green light for Jamestown Hub Trail extension, new trail to Kinsmen Park

An extension of the Hub Trail to the James Street area and a new multi-use trail to Kinsmen Park will move ahead this year with federal funding announced today.

The extension of the John Rowswell Hub Trail had been identified as a priority by Mayor Matthew Shoemaker and the current city council shortly after they were sworn in last year.

“Council had directed that the connection to James Street be the next project that receives municipal funding,” Shoemaker told SooToday after an announcement Friday at Kinsmen Park. “That had been worked on in anticipation of when the next funding envelope was available, making sure that we had the path ready for the capital work that is going to be required.”

Shoemaker said he hasn’t seen final plans for the extension, but drawings he saw earlier in the process called for a connection to the Hub Trail near the International Bridge Plaza, crossing on the south side of the railway tracks and entering the Jamestown area by way of Cathcart Street.

The planned Hub Trail expansion in that area will mostly be a conversion of existing sidewalks into a wider asphalt multi-use path.

The Hub Trail extension project will be joined on the opposite end of the city with an all new trail linking downtown with Hiawatha Highlands Conservation Area, Wishart Park and Kinsmen Park.

The five-kilometre Hiawatha Highlands and Conservation Area Connector Trail will provide residents with a safer active transportation option, separated from busy roadways. It will begin off Third Line near Old Garden River Road, extending north toward Wishart Park.

Shoemaker said plans for both projects are already drawn and, with funding in place, he expects them to be complete and ready to use by the end of summer or sometime in the fall.

The two active transportation projects were made possible through a $1.2-million funding announcement made Friday by Sault MP Terry Sheehan. The city is contributing $560,000 toward the two projects, while Tourism Sault Ste. Marie is kicking in $260,000.

Sheehan said he has been working with local stakeholders on a network of trails linking all parts of the city since he began as a city councillor in 2003.

“Back then there was just the boardwalk and that was the start of this whole trail system we have now,” said Sheehan. “These ideas have been around for quite a while now.”

Sault Ste. Marie is already a destination for many people interested in being active outdoors, including cyclists, said Beverley Barber, chair of Tourism Sault Ste. Marie. Currently, people who want to use many of the mountain bike trails at the edge of the city have to drive to get to them.

”The guests who are coming who are avid cyclists want to do as much as they can do in a day,” said Barber. “They can then cycle back to the hotel, freshen up and go downtown to experience some of the culinary tourism and the offerings we have there. It really pulls the city together.”