The University of Toronto has agreed to remove the concrete barricades along Bathurst Street in Newmarket that have been creating parking chaos for Jokers Hill trail users and neighbouring residents and businesses throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move comes about a week after the Town of Newmarket began discussing the removal of the barricades on discovering the town owned the dead-end stretch of old Bathurst Street used as a parking lot to access the university-owned trails.
"They have agreed to remove the barriers themselves early next week," Newmarket Mayor John Taylor told NewmarketToday. "But the town is still in discussion with UofT to better understand their challenges and see what we can do to work together toward a better solution."
Before the university put up the barricades this spring, they consulted with York Region, the Township of King and Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority, under the assumption that the parking lot was under the jurisdiction of one of those organizations.
Following NewmarketToday's stories, the town discovered the parking lot was its property.
"I think they understood that it is our property and that they want to work with us to fix these issues. It's all coming from a positive place," said Taylo
