Residents in Windsor-Essex may one day have a new trail connecting existing trails in the region with ones in Chatham-Kent.
The Essex Region Conservation Authority said a 47 km stretch of the former Canada Southern Railway is now protected for public use.
It acquired the land through a partnership with the County of Essex, the Town of Tecumseh, the Town of Essex, and the Municipality of Lakeshore, and funding from Environment and Climate Change Canada.
The rail line ceased operations 15 years ago. The railway ties and steel rails came out seven years ago, and the property is naturalized. It contains a mix of former rail ballast, meadow, shrub thickets, wetlands, and forest.
The property is significant for other reasons too. It provides a habitat for endangered species like the Eastern Foxsnake and links 21 separate natural areas.
Eventually, it'll link Leamington's Greenway, the Chrysler Greenway, the Cypher Systems Group Greenway, and the Herb Grey Parkway trail to trails in Chatham-Kent. It would be the longest multi-use trail loop in the region.
The new trail should also reduce flooding.
"The CASO corridor bisects all major watercourses that empty into Lake St. Clair," said a release from ERCA.
ERCA still needs to secure funding to convert the line into a trail.