Thomson’s Cut trail portion officially open

Craig Bakay | Jul 31, 2019

Thanks to a $55,000grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the Thomson’s Cut portion of the K & P multiuse Trail is all but finished, and as such was recognized with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday morning in Sharbot Lake.

Gary Giller, who as a member of the Central Frontenac Railway Heritage Society and the Multi-Use Centre committee spearheaded the project to have lights installed as well as delineation as to pedestrian and ATV areas. Giller thanked the Trillium Foundation as well as Marcel Giroux of W.A. Robinson Asset Management, John Purdon and John DuChene for their contribution to the project.

He said the work will greatly enhance the safety of users.

“Expectation, circumstance and reality are three very different things,” Giller said. “Obviously things are still a work in progress but we do have the financial resources to complete it and we’re very close to that.

“This (Thomson’s Cut) will serve as a link from Railway Heritage Park to the beach.”

Lanark-Frontenac-Kingston MPP Randy Hillier picked up on Giller’s words.

“Vibrant, healthy communities are always a work in progress,” Hillier said. “What this project shows is an illustration of community, business and politicians working together.

“Not everything has to be strictly political.”

Central Frontenac Mayor Frances Smith particularly thanked all the volunteers involved in fixing up the 300-metre stretch of the trail.

“It’s been a long time coming and while $55,000 may not sound like a lot, to a project like this, it’s huge,” Smith said. “Without the Trillium Grant, it could have been another 10 years.”

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. OTF awarded more than $108 million to 629 projects in Ontario last year.