Over the past few years, I wrote a few articles looking at where things stand with Ontario’s trails. It started with a review of the rail trail gaps in June 2023; followed by a follow-up piece in June 2024 and revisiting Toronto’s 2012 Trails Plan in August 2025. I also made a case for a different kind of cycling campaign for Toronto in Spacing earlier this year. Let’s check out some of the recent trail progress.
The Meadoway
A construction notice was recently issued for a short multi-use path on Morningside Avenue from The Meadoway to Tams Road and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. Renderings from the City of Toronto can be found below.
Eventually, the plan is to put in a path between Pan Am Drive and Chartway Boulevard which would allow trail users to continue on Conlins and the existing trail to the Toronto Zoo. Technically, you can use a grass path already per the below screenshot. Federal funding of $4.3 million was confirmed for The Meadoway along with the official opening of the trail segment from Arsandco Park to Marcos Boulevard. Finally, fingers crossed that the Bermondsey to Eglinton gap gets filled next year to connect The Meadoway with the East Don Trail Phase 1 (which itself officially opened in July).
Two major gaps remain for The Meadoway which are a proposed bridge over the Stouffville GO line to bypass residential neighbourhoods and a new trail segment from Neilson Road to Military Trail crossing the Ellesmere Ravine. No timeframes are known for these gaps, but there needs to be pressure to complete them by 2030. Especially with a municipal election less than two months away.
Durham Meadoway
Speaking of The Meadoway, the federal government also confirmed $3.3 million in active transportation funding for Durham Region with the biggest project being a 30-kilometre Durham Meadoway from the Toronto border to Harmony Road in Oshawa. The environmental assessment and preliminary design stage is expected to happen from 2026 to 2028 per the project website.
Upon reviewing the trail map, it appears Ajax’s portion is the most developed which will use existing multi-use paths along Taunton Road, as well as a hydro corridor path near its western boundary. Whitby has a smaller path as part of the Heber Down Conservation Area, while the entire trail would have to be built from scratch in Pickering and Oshawa including a crossing of Highway 412.
Etobicoke Greenway
In late August, Hydro One hosted an open house for the Etobicoke Greenway and released the presentation panels on their website. Upon reviewing the panels, construction is expected to start in September and be completed in early 2027. Except for a couple of gaps, this trail would go from Bloor Street to Loungbourne Drive (south of Highway 401).
This trail is part of a 100-kilometre green loop Gil Penalosa proposed during the 2022 election. However, completing this trail would require building a trail along the Humber-Pearson hydro corridor as well as crossings of Highways 401 and 409. I don’t expect this segment to be filled in anytime soon; especially the portion west of Kipling which is not part of the 2025-27 bike plan.
Scarborough Waterfront Project
As I reported last year, the Brimley Road South trail is under construction while the west segment towards Gates Gully is expected to start next year following completion of the Brimley trail. A consultation for the Scarborough Bluffs West Project was held earlier this year, but it remains unknown when the next consultation phase will begin while a consultation report is not available. I encourage you to join the project mailing list to find out about the report and future consultations.
Orangeville Brampton Rail Trail
The first part of the Orangeville Brampton Rail Trail from Atwood Lane to Derry Road in Mississauga is expected to start construction this fall and be completed next summer. Derry Road to the Brampton border would be addressed via Phase 2 later on. Caledon is expected to host a public meeting in late November to review the preliminary design which should be finalized by next spring. While there hasn’t been any movement regarding public consultations within Brampton, some early works have begun including a culvert replacement over the Churchville Tributary.
Credit Valley Trail
One trail project I found out about recently – but dates back to at least 2019 – is the Credit Valley Trail from Orangeville to Port Credit. It is expected to use the Orangeville Brampton Rail Trail from Orangeville to the Caledon Trailway and then the Caledon Trailway to its terminus at Terra Cotta. Parts of the existing Culham Trail will be used while a north-south crossing over the QEW – part of the QEW Credit River project along with the Nine Creeks Trail crossing – is also part of this long-term project.
Guelph to Goderich Rail Trail
One trail which has been on my bucket list for a while is the 132 km Guelph to Goderich Rail Trail. However, there have been several gaps that remain to be filled in. The G2G Rail Trail group has a list of capital projects on their website showing four projects underway while two other crossings of the Maitland and Grand Rivers would require funding to proceed. Among the four active projects, the Conestogo River crossing is expected to start construction this fall and be done by next year which would eliminate a significant trail gap. The Guelph Gateway from Woodlan Road to Silvercreek Parkway is expected to start construction next year which would build on another stretch from Woodlawn to Woolwich Street which was finished as of January 2026. Fortunately, there is a lot of support from all three levels of government to complete this gap to Downtown Guelph.
 |
| Rendering of the G2G Conestogo River crossing (via Region of Waterloo) |
Haldimand County Trail Plan Update
In January 2026, Haldimand County hosted a public consultation on updating their Trails Master Plan which was last updated in 2009. Some of the proposed trails such as Caledonia to Dunnville and the subsequent connection to the Gord Harry Conservation Trail were proposed during the previous plan with very little to show for it! Not to mention, that short gap on the Chippewa Rail Trail to Caledonia itself still hasn’t been done!
 |
| Haldimand County 2009 Trails Master Plan |
While Haldimand County is certainly not alone in this regard, it must be stressed that plans mean nothing if you don’t have implementation timelines and funding behind them! Building the rail trail to Dunnville would open the possibility of doing a grand loop of the Niagara Peninsula, while a Hagersville to Waterford trail – which wasn’t in the 2009 plan – would provide a connection to the LE&N Trail from Brantford to Port Dover.
Pedaling Forward
After reviewing these trails, it’s clear there has been slow but steady progress across the province. This also includes the Barrie-Collingwood Rail Trail from Stayner to Angus which officially opened in April but still has a gap from 5th Line to Barrie due to the active rail line. If you live near these proposed trails, I encourage you to ask your candidates for municipal public office to commit to completing them, as well as your provincial and federal representatives to ensure other levels of government commit funding. Let’s keep pushing towards a connected province-wide trail network which can give Québec’s Route Verte a run for its money!
No comments:
Post a Comment