Funding To Include K&P Trail Expansion To Sharbot Lake

Jeff Green | Oct 10, 2013

When the premier’s office decided to include the completion of the Ontario section of the Trans-Canada Trail as a legacy initiative in conjunction with the 2015 Pan Am games, they didn’t bother to check with anyone in Frontenac County.

The initiative includes a funding commitment of $3.5 million to complete the remaining 250 kilometres of the 2,000 kilometre trail, but no details as to how much of that will be earmarked for the remaining piece in Frontenac County. The section of the K&P trail that is earmarked for the funding starts at Craig Road just north of Verona, and extends through farm and swampland, and a number of pieces of private property near Tichborne, before it meets the already completed east-west portion of the trail in the railroad park in Sharbot Lake.

The Frontenac section of the trail is about 45 kilometres long, almost 1/5 of the remaining 250 kilometres, and if the money is doled out on a percentage basis it could mean that almost $700,000 will go to that section of trail.

The announcement came just as Frontenac County has finalized the necessary arrangements in order to complete the section of trail that runs from the trailhead in Harrowsmith through Hartington and Verona to the Craig Road. No time frame has been set for the completion of that section, but it could be completed by the spring of next year.

Even with a large infusion of provincial money, past experience with private landowners makes it less than certain that the new section of trail can possibly be completed by the time the Pam Am games take place in 2015.

Frontenac County, which has been taking on the job of building the K&P trail, has not received any details about the funding, other than receiving a press release from Kingston MPP John Gerretson.

“I know the people of Kingston and the surrounding areas will use these trails to get outside and stay active for years to come. The trail expansions will ensure our communities are connected like never before, giving people in the area hiking and recreational opportunities year-round,” Gerretson said in his release.