September 1998 - News and Updates: Grand Trunk Trail

Richardson impressed with Sarnia Bridge walkway
MP gets tour of Grand Trunk Trail last Friday morning

Members of the Grand Trunk Trail committee gave John Richardson a tour of the Sarnia Bridge and walkway in St. Marys last Friday morning. And the MP for Perth-Middlesex was impressed.

Now the Trail committee is hoping Richardson will assist them in acquiring additional funds for the project. Committee members asked the MP how to apply for accessibility funding.

"With John, we hope to find out if there's any money federally for accessibility, for wheelchairs and for people who cannot come up (to the Bridge) and walk on the stones and get across," committee member Marlene Weston explained as the group strolled along the scenic trail.

"What we'd like to do is pave and light (the trail) from Ingersoll Street back to the Sarnia Bridge (a stretch of approximately 460 yards). If we can just get money to do that, it would at least allow the seniors and people in (Memorial) hospital to walk down the trail, or be pushed in their wheelchairs.

"It would make it accessible, and right now it's not. People in wheelchairs just can't use it (in its present state)," Weston said.

Chair Carol Robinson-Todd says funds are actually needed to illuminate the trail at both ends of Sarnia Bridge. The lights would be placed on one side of the trail only, much the same as the Riverview Walkway.

"Between paving and lighting, it's almost a toss-up," Robinson-Todd said. "When you come out in the evening, the bridge itself is lit up like a Christmas tree. But you get off the ends and it's black as night.

The committee wants to surface the west end of the Trail first, with either asphalt or cement.

"It's the roughest (stretch of Trail) right now," she said. "The gravel is really heavy there, and it's also because of the fact that we are close to a nursing home (Wildwood Care Centre) and the back end of the hospital.

Robinson-Todd says the price tag for the paving and lighting is about $45,000. "We're looking at about $20,000, just for the paving. The lighting is another $20,000 to $25,000. It's not only the fixtures and lamp poles, but the wiring, the cable and labour that goes along with it. The PUC has to do all the digging, etc."

Applying for Millennium grant
Robinson-Todd says the Trail committee is also applying for a grant called the Canada Millennium Partnership Program, to ultimately join the Trail and Junction Station.

"We're just in the process of putting together some numbers," she said. "John (Richardson) is encouraging us to get the numbers to him as quickly as possible.

"There's an Oct. 31 deadline for this submission, so we have to get our act together."

Ideas that have been proposed, Robinson-Todd says, include: washrooms, someplace to get refreshments, and possibly a railroad museum. "These are simply ideas being tossed around. They haven't even been written on paper yet," she noted.

The chair says it will likely be sometime in November before they learn if their grant bid is successful.

Robinson-Todd says the Trail committee also wants to put signage up in the downtown core, indicating how people can access the Trail and Sarnia Bridge.

"People downtown can see people standing up on (the bridge), but it's not obvious how to get here," she said. "Even locals are saying, 'how do we get up here? So signage is another thing, to point people to the Trail.

Robinson-Todd estimates that $150,000 is still needed to complete the entire project, which got started just over two years ago.

"We didn't want to have an official opening because that gives the impression that it's finished, but it's not. We want to put benches up here, and picnic areas, and a peace garden idea is being tossed around very seriously. But it's all money.

"We know that St. Marys has been historically generous with sponsoring the planks and with bigger contributions as well.

"But we don't want this thing to be smashing in the middle and then peter off at the ends. So that's what the continued plans are all about," she said.

Exceeded expectations
Despite the fact that lots of work still needs to be done, MP Richardson was thrilled with his first tour of the bridge and walkway.

"I think it's beautiful. I never dreamed it would be this nice," he remarked last Friday.

"When I stepped out behind (Arthur Meighen) school and looked down that tunnel with the trees, I said, 'that's nature at its best.' It's a nice level walk for anybody who is older.

"And when I hit the bridge and saw the lovely job they've made with the beautiful iron railings and the wood . . . it's great. I don't think I've seen anything to top this.

"I'm sure there's people even from St. Marys who haven't seen it, and they should get up here right away and enjoy this view of the river and the town." Richardson described the Grand Trunk Trail as a tremendous addition to the town of St. Marys.

"From the human point of view, it's great. It's got to be an asset. You won't get any better around southern Ontario, anywhere."

A 'different' look
Trail committee member Jean Hewitt, of Thorndale, says the St. Marys committee set out to have a 'different' look than a similar bridge in Goderich.

"We decided because the Goderich bridge is out in the country, overlooking the harbour and the river, that it was more of a rural setting," Hewitt explained.

"They used the wood sides, and we said ours is an urban setting and so the design committee looked at putting the railing and old-fashioned lights in to keep the theme of St. Marys. The idea was to keep it more urban and historical because we're also restoring this as a historical piece, so we did want to make it different."

Hewitt also sat on the Goderich committee when that town was doing its Menesetung bridge and walkway project. She said advice from the Goderich committee was extremely helpful.

"When we started into this project, they came down and talked to us about the pitfalls and the kinds of experiences they had doing theirs. So that advice was really good," she said.

Tremendous response' to seniors' tour
Area senior citizens, meanwhile, were given a tour of the Sarnia Bridge and Trail in golf carts last week.

"There was a tremendous response," Marlene Weston noted.

It will be held again next week. Seniors are invited to meet at Wellington Street N. or Ingersoll Street N. on Tues., Sept. 22 and Thurs., Sept. 24 between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.

A View from the Bridge
(even if you can't walk there)
by Carol Robinson-Todd
Image8.jpg (7165 bytes)

Everyone who wants to enjoy the view from the Sarnia Bridge should be able to do so. With that philosophy in mind, arrangements have been made for people to get to the Bridge even if age and/or physical condition seems to make that prospect difficult or impossible.

On three days in September, (Thursday the 10^th, Tuesday the 22^nd and Thursday the 24^th) volunteers will be waiting at the top of Wellington Street N (beside Arthur Meighen Public School) and at Ingersoll Street N with golf carts to transport people along the Grand Trunk Trail to the Bridge. Due to the already popular response, the time for this event will be from 10am to 3pm. This time span was chosen to avoid the anticipated bicycle traffic due to students making their ways to Arthur Meighen and Holy Name at the beginning and end of the school day.

The carts will be provided by Canadian Cart Sales, St. Marys Golf Club and a few individuals who own carts.

We hope that a family member will be able to accompany any senior who needs more help than simply transferring from car to golf cart. The Grand Trunk Trail volunteers cannot possibly know of individual medical impediments. We are there to drive the carts and give information about the project.

If the days are cool/cold, we will proceed with the event. Please dress appropriately and be aware that, even on warm days, there is more breeze on the exposed Bridge than there is in town. If the days are rainy, the event that day will be cancelled. Cross your fingers for a continuation of what we've had most of the summer!

If the phone calls to date are any indication of the popularity of this idea, we will ask for your patience if there is a line-up and a cart is not immediately available. The GTT shuttle will be along as soon as possible.

Your name plaque on a board on the Sarnia Bridge! For a minimum donation of $35, donors can put their names or the names of anyone they choose on the Sarnia Bridge.

Name plaques on the way!
On a different note, the name plaques have been ordered. They will probably start arriving in three weeks. For those of you who made your donation so many months ago, your patience will be rewarded soon.

The plaques will be placed randomly unless we have been given specific instructions as to the grouping of certain plaques. We have decided that placing them alphabetically is pointless because people who sponsor planks after the first lot is positioned would inevitably have a last name that would be in the middle of the alphabet. Repositioning the plaques to accommodate new ones is not feasible. A spreadsheet record of the positioning of every plaque will be maintained so that donors will know where to look if, for some reason, they are unable to find their plaque.

Just a reminder about the
GTT Children's Dressup Parade on Saturday, September 19^th.

Preregistration is at the Library or the VIA Station for $5/child or $13/family of siblings. Call GTT member Pam Zabel after 6pm at 284-0464 for more information.

Click here for additional information.