What's Going Up is a regular NewmarketToday series highlighting growth and development that is proposed and ongoing in town.
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The design for an extension to the Dave Kerwin Trail in Newmarket is expected to be finalized in the next couple of months so that construction can potentially begin in 2022.
The one-kilometre addition will connect the existing trail that runs through a wooded area near Environmental Park to new entrances located on Clifford Perry Place and Art West Avenue.
The preliminary design proposes a paved, three-metre-wide, fully accessible path running through the forest to reach the two neighbourhoods on the far side. Two footbridges, similar in design to those along the Tom Taylor Trail at Fairy Lake, would be installed to cross a creek that runs through the woods.
Consultant Mike Dartizio from Stantec, which is designing the new trail, said that the extension would allow more people to easily access the active transportation system Newmarket has been slowly building for years.
"This proposed trail will provide a wonderful link for neighbourhoods that are not directly connected to the Dave Kerwin Trail," he said.
The preliminary design has the trail zigzagging through the forest to follow the contours of the terrain to keep the path as level as possible, and to minimize disturbance of the environment. It is expected that 1.5 per cent of the trees in the construction area will have to be removed to make way for the trail, but Dartizio said more will be planted to help make up for it.
Although it will be going through some pretty thick woods, the preliminary design does not call for any lighting of the trail.
The lack of benches concerned some residents at a public meeting last November, who said there should be benches for seniors who need to rest.
Mike Ashworth from the town's engineering services department explained that the idea behind having no benches was motivated by safety concerns.
"We have looked at benches many times for all of the trail segments we have done. The consensus at the end of the day has been that it will be a safer trail if we don't have these stopping points where people can congregate, especially at night," said Ashworth.
Other options for rest areas could be considered, said Ashworth.
The trail's design is expected to be completed in the first part of 2021, but construction can't begin this spring because there is no budget approved by council for the project. That money will have to be allocated in the 2022 budget so it can start that year.
If the project is approved to go ahead, the existing paths of the Dave Kerwin Trail will not need to be closed during construction.
