Otonabee Conservation was joined by partners and supporters to celebrate the completion of the Jackson Creek Trail revitalization project at a ribbon-cutting event on Saturday (January 14) at the trail’s eastern trailhead near the cement bridge in Peterborough’s Jackson Park.
More than 60 people attending the celebration, including delegates from Curve Lake First Nation and federal and municipal governments, community members, local interest groups, and project engineers and contractors.
The event featured the unveiling of new trailhead signs, educational signs that were developed in partnership with the Curve Lake First Nation Cultural Centre, and accessible wayfinding signs to allow more visitors to safely access the trail. Community members, supporters, and donors also participated in a birdwatching hike led by the Peterborough Field Naturalists.
Along with the addition of signage, the Jackson Creek Trail revitalization project addressed points of erosion along the trail, installed culverts, regraded slopes, enhanced bridges and railings, and resurfaced the length of the trail, and added benches.
This project was primarily funded with a $523,917 investment from the Government of Canada’s Canada Community Revitalization Fund, administered by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario).
“This project will bring more Canadians outdoors to experience the trail whether through walking, hiking, or cycling,” said Filomena Tassi, the federal minister responsible for FedDev Ontario, in a message.
“On top of that, it will also increase environmental and historical awareness of the area, help nearby neighbourhoods thrive, and increase local business sales,” Tassi said. “Projects like these are exactly the ones we love to see as they are a win-win for our communities.”
In addition to the FedDev Ontario investment, Trans Canada Trail provided $61,500 and community members donated over $60,000 through Otonabee Conservation’s Your Metres Matter and Close the Gap fundraising campaigns over the past two years.
“We are grateful to our funders who have made this project possible and we are especially humbled by the response from the community, who has come together to support the revitalization of the beloved Jackson Creek Trail,” said Otonabee Conservation’s CAO and secretary-treasurer Janette Loveys Smith.
“The community has raised over $60,000 in the past two years to help resurface the trail and to ensure benches, educational signs, trail markers, and accessible wayfinding signs could be added along the length of the trail,” Loveys Smith added.
Otonabee Conservation is looking to raise another $10,000 to complete the final aspects of the project through the Close the Gap fundraising campaign.
For more information and to make a donation, visit otonabeeconservation.com/connect-with-us/make-a-donation.
