POLL: Hub trail expansion, park upgrades among top priorities for local poll respondents

Between biking, tennis, exploring local trails, skating and playing at the park, there is certainly no shortage of things to do in Sault Ste. Marie, regardless of the season.

But with summer fast approaching comes greater use of the city's outdoor amenities, particularly among families as kids finish up school and yearn to soak up the sun. As we enter our second COVID-impacted summer here in the Sault, it is likely that the community will be itching to get out of the house and fill their days with fun activities.

This got us wondering which recreational infrastructure Saultites would like to see the city make improvements or upgrades to. 

So, SooToday decided to ask its readers, what recreation infrastructure do you think the City of SSM should invest in?

The breakdown was as follows: 

• 810 (34 per cent) voted expand the hub trail
• 668 (28 per cent) voted upgrade play features in existing parks
• 320 (14 per cent) voted other
• 174 (seven per cent of) voted more outdoor rinks
• 132 (six per cent) voted pickle ball courts
• 120 (five per cent) voted beach volleyball courts
• 72 (three per cent)  voted skateboard parks
• 70 (three per cent) voted tennis courts

We also asked our poll respondents to post in the comment section if they would like to see improvements made to something that wasn't included on the list. Here are some of the contenders pitched by local respondents:

• A lift at Finn Hill
• Getting Pointe Des Chenes campground operational again
• Outdoor workout equipment
• Splash pads/Water play features/more outdoor pools
• Indoor/outdoor family play structure, climbing centre
• Campgrounds
• More activities for seniors (bocce, fishing events)
• Boat lock tour improvements
• More indoor walking paths
• Waterfront features/vendors

A total of 2,366 local votes were cast in the poll. This poll had a 1.99 per cent margin of error, 19 times out of 20.

SooToday's polling system allows for the capture of relevant local data and gives us the ability to detect and prevent fraudulent votes, as well as detect and prevent robots and filter out non-local duplicate votes.