A scenic view from the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.A scenic view from the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.
Midwestern

Huron County Asked To Help With Great Lakes Waterfront Trail

The executive director of the Waterfront Regeneration Trust has asked Huron County council for help in completing the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail.

Marlaine Koehler told councillors this week their goal is to create a continuous hiking and biking trail around the Great Lakes.

Koehler says at this point the trail is 1,600 km long, extending from the Quebec border to Grand Bend.  She says on June 9 they're going to add a stretch in Northern Ontario of 380 km between Sault Ste. Marie and Sudbury.

Koehler  is asking Huron County to help with the gap between Southern Ontario and Northern Ontario that runs right up the Lake Huron Shoreline.

Koehler acknowledges that safety is always a concern, and they want to stay as close to the shoreline as possible to take advantage of the scenery, but they're also trying to find the safest route, while at the same time recognizing that it's very difficult to get the ideal trail in one year. But if you don't have a trail of some kind in place it's very difficult to get funding to improve something that isn't there. Koehler says they're asking the county for two-thousand dollars a year, as well as input on the best route up the shoreline. County council has asked staff to come back to council with a report.

Koehler says in choosing the best route they look at scenery, and proximity to the lake is a factor there, but they also consider connections to the communities along the shoreline, because cyclists don't usually want to go 40 km without a break. She suggests the paved shoulders on Hwy. 21 are a positive, but she wants input from the county on other options like Orchard Line going through Huron County.

A visual look at what the 380-km extension of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail would look like. A visual look at what the 380-km extension of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail would look like.

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