Photos from the Railpath Opening Parade
This past Saturday, the Friends of the West Toronto Railpath organized an opening celebration / parade, in honour of the Railpath's completion this year. Although there is still some work to be done on the path, with an "official" opening happening probably around September of this year, the path is mostly ready for everyone to enjoy.
Have a look below for some photos from the opening parade. A complete gallery of photos taken on this day can be found here, as well as some discussion of the event on the I Bike TO website.
Gathering: Cyclists, walkers, and other neighbours gathered at the Wallace Ave. entrance to the soon-to-be-finished West Toronto Railpath. The "parade" was a celebration of the path's completion this year, and was part of the City of Toronto's "Bike Month" festivities.
More people: Friends and neighbours chatting, hoping the sky doesn't open up and "rain on our parade".
Opening remarks: Mike Foderick and Netami Stuart of the Friends of the West Toronto Railpath welcomed everyone to the event.
Rainy parade: The rain came, just as the parade started heading north from Wallace Ave.
Soaking wet, but still happy: Everyone was still in good spirits, even with all the rain.
Getting wetter....: After riding to the top of the path at Cariboo Ave., we turned around and headed back south.
Bloor St. Bridge: The Railpath parade crosses the Bloor St. bridge, southbound.
South End: Taking a break at the south end of the Railpath, at the corner of Dundas St. and Sterling Rd.
Happy to be on the Railpath: Riders on the Railpath parade head back north from Dundas St.
Heading North: Riders on the Railpath parade head back north from Dundas St.
Comments
Rail Path Extension to the South
Can an update be provided with regard to extending the rail path south from Dundas including time frames. It would be good to understand whether the overall plan includes connections to downtown and or the Lakeshore as well if there are milestones to towards it or what ever the plan is
Rail Path Extension to the South
Railpath stage 2 which is supposed to go to basically Strachan Avenue is somewhat tied up with Metrolinx and their planned massive polluting expansion in the Georgetown Corridor. Now everybody wants rail lines again when 10 years ago you couldn't give them away.
Many are not happy about Metrolinx's plan to use diesel instead of electricity to power trains and there are some threads elsewhere about that but it important to note that RP and increased public transit in the corridor are not exclusive to each other, they compliment each other.
The Friends o Railpath have met with Metrolinx and they have been willing to work to resolve any issues that might stop stage 2 from being completed. First off the Dufferin jog should not affect RP so there is no worry there. The issue is that as the corridor gets closer to downtown it starts to bunch up and the section in the Strachan area will be very congested. At this time it we may be only able to get RP to Sudbury Avenue near Queen and Dovercourt which is nothing to sneeze at and would be fantastic. There has also been vague talk about a stage 3 heading north but that is far away.
Look towards this September for the official RP opening and a more detailed plan for stage 2 announcement.