You Asked is a regular NewmarketToday feature. We’ll do our best to get the answers to your most pressing questions about what’s going on in Newmarket. Email [email protected] and please include the words You Asked in the subject line.
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You asked:
Newmarket resident Fran Bezos, who regularly walks the natural, off-trail pathways on the Dave Kerwin Trail, is wondering why a new, groomed pathway is being installed. Bezos said there are an adequate number of paved pathways on the trail for walkers to enjoy and they are rarely crowded.
“For many of us, the real joy of hailing on the Dave Kerwin Trail is the opportunity to go off-path and have the experience of hiking in the woods,” she said. “I have spoken to many people who walk the off-trail pathways and no one I have spoken to is happy about the idea of making these pathways look groomed or, worse yet, paving them. This would be the opposite of an improvement.”
Here’s the answer:
The decade-old Dave Kerwin Trail is a 2 kilometre easy walking, hiking, and cycling trail that runs north off Woodspring Avenue, from Davis Drive to the town’s northern boundary, and features trails through the Environmental Park.
A new bicycle lane along a short section of Bonshaw Avenue, scheduled to be completed by fall 2020, will connect the bike lanes on Woodspring and Bonshaw with the trail.
According to the town’s development and infrastructure services commissioner, Peter Noehammer, a new paved trail connection is now being designed and constructed to connect the subdivision in Newmarket’s northwest quadrant to the Dave Kerwin Trail and Environmental Park.
The paved trail will be constructed to meet the requirements of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005, which will allow those with mobility issues to conveniently access the trail, along with residents who live in the connecting subdivision.
“Currently, survey and geotechnical work is being done as part of the design phase and construction is anticipated for 2021, pending budget approval,” Noehammer said.
