Let’s Support the West Scarborough Rail Trail!

Last month, Toronto City Council approved Councillor Parthi Kandavel’s member motion MM35.26 to advance the West Scarborough Rail Trail (WSRT) proposal to at least 10% functional design by a 20-1 vote with Councillor Burnside being the lone vote against. To celebrate the occasion, Misha Perozak and the Scarborough Junction Community hosted a temporary art installation at the GECO Rail Bridge next to Warden station.

Upon exiting Warden Station, I saw the above mural which pays tribute to the General Engineering Company (GECO), which was the largest munitions plant in Canada (if not North America) during World War II and was mainly employed by women (a.k.a. The Bomb Girls).

After getting up to the bridge, here’s a look west towards Warden station prior to beginning the art installation.

And a look towards the east where the rail path could eventually go.

Monica brought over the supplies including some paper cups and spray paint for the installation, as well as some hot chocolate.

Several volunteers placing cups through the fence for the art display with a train passing by.

Time for some hot chocolate! Rhoda Potter – pictured – is with the Agincourt Village Community Association – and is very active in Scarborough including with Toronto East Cyclists.

A group shot with Misha (centre with brown jacket) and the other attendees next to their work.

Misha starts spray painting the cups.

While the spray painting continued, I decided to take a short walk along the proposed rail trail.

After the subway goes underground, you can see the hydro corridor and some townhouses.

A trail can be found connecting Pidgeon Street and Chestnut Crescent.

Past the townhouses, you can see some industrial land where GECO would have been. There is even GECO Park not far from where this photo was taken.

On my way back, I noticed another nearby trail that goes through St. Clair Ravine Park which continues to the Pine Hills Cemetery.

And here is the finished art installation!

As I was leaving, I noticed this field next to Warden station where the trail could continue south past the Warden Transformer Staton to Pilkington Drive. I do wonder how this could connect with the Gus Harris Trail on the other side of Warden Avenue.

The WSRT art installation could be seen while walking along St. Clair East to Warden station.

To give you some background on why we should support the West Scarborough Rail Trail, this was a project first proposed more than fifty years ago in 1972 by a group of University of Toronto Scarborough students led by Norm Hawirko! The trail they initially proposed would have been fifteen kilometres from Warden station all the way to the Toronto Zoo. The current proposal would go from Pilkington Drive to Kennedy station with an aim to provide connectivity with The Meadoway (via a trail running next to the former Scarborough RT line), as well as the Gus Harris, Taylor Creek, and Lower Don trails towards Lake Ontario. The trail is included in the Warden Woods secondary plan pictured below and is supported by elected officials at all three levels of government including Mayor Olivia Chow.

However, the reason why Councillor Kandavel put forward that recently approved motion is that the TTC wanted to preserve the GECO rail line for a pocket track to store two trains which would effectively kill the WSRT. You can read more about the case for the WSRT on the Scarborough Junction Community’s website.

Thanks Misha and the Scarborough Junction Community for organizing today's event. If you support the WSRT, I encourage you to please sign the latest petition, as well as follow the Scarborough Junction Community for further updates. I will also share any consultation details here and on my Bluesky feed as they come up.