The City of Peterborough is eyeing the Coldsprings growth area at the southern edge of the city as a potential location for an Alto high-speed rail station.
At city council’s general committee on Tuesday night (February 17), a report from Blair Nelson, the city’s commissioner of infrastructure, planning and growth management, recommended the allocation of $375,000 in each of the 2027 and 2028 capital budgets for a Coldsprings secondary planning study.
“Undertaking studies to support a Coldsprings secondary plan now will allow the city to work with Alto to identify options for preferred routes and station locations and establish an infrastructure and land use plan to maximize both Alto’s benefit to the region and the region’s benefit to Alto,” the report states.
Peterborough is one of seven stops along the corridor for the high-speed rail project, which is the largest public infrastructure project in Canada in recent history. When completed, the project will see trains reaching 300 km/h or more on an electrified rail network spanning around 1,000 kilometres between Toronto and Quebec City, slashing travel time between Toronto and Peterborough to just 40 minutes.
“In planning for routes and station locations, staff expects Alto will need to prioritize efficiency both in terms of overall system operation and ease of construction,” the report states. “To that end, staff anticipates that locations relatively unencumbered by significant urban development and natural heritage constraints will be preferred by Alto. In Peterborough, the Coldsprings planning area is one such area and may be selected by Alto as a possible option location for the station.”
Located at the southern limit of the city, the Coldsprings planning area is named after the former hamlet of Coldsprings. It comprises around 307 hectares (760 acres) of land, including land annexed by the city from Smith Township and Otonabee Township in 1998 along with additional land annexed from Smith-Ennismore-Lakefield and Otonabee-South Monaghan in 2008, with the purpose of accommodating the city’s future growth.
Bounded by the Otonabee River and Matchett Line to the west, Highway 7/115 to the north, Bensfort Road and Wallace Point Road to the east, and Driscoll Road to the south, the Coldsprings planning area is mostly rural and agricultural iwith some natural heritage areas of significance. It has direct access to Highway 7/115, is closed to the Peterborough Regional Airport, and has direct arterial road access to Lansdowne Street East.
“Staff view Coldsprings as an ideal location to consider for Alto because of its large area, proximity to existing transportation facilities, and its relatively unencumbered land use pattern,” the report states.
While the city’s official plan identifies Coldsprings as an area for future development and city council has re-instated approval for two draft plans for subdivisions in the north portion of the area, the official plan requires a secondary land use plan to be prepared for the area to establish appropriate urban structure, delineate land use boundaries, and provide urban design guidelines and development policies that will guide the area’s long-term development.
In February 2025, city council directed staff to prepare a secondary plan. Although $250,000 was previously approved for the completion of planning studies, a request for $375,000 in the city’s 2026 budget was deferred until 2027. City staff are now requesting the allocation of $375,000 in each of the 2027 and 2028 budgets, for a total project budget of $1 million.
At Tuesday night’s meeting, Mayor Jeff Leal spoke in support of the report and the potential for an Alto high-speed rail station to be located in the area.
“The federal minister of transportation has indicated that the amount of land needed for Alto stations is going to be 42 squared metres (sic), which is approximately 10 acres,” the mayor said. “We assume that Alto will want to cross the Otonabee River at its narrowest point, so that’s certainly down in the Coldsprings area, and if we start the development of the station in that area, 10 acres would provide sufficient surface parking to serve the region.”
“We sense that Alto may choose the ONRoute type facility, provide food offerings and the sales of tickets, and we want to make sure that we position the City of Peterborough strategically,” Mayor Leal added.
Alto CEO Martin Imbleau will be in Peterborough on Thursday (February 19) to deliver a keynote address at an event called “PK Conversations: High Speed Rail Advancement with Alto” hosted by the Peterborough and Kawarthas Chamber of Commerce from 8 to 10 a.m. at The StoneHouse Hall (2195 Lansdowne St. W., Cavan Monaghan).
The following Thursday (February 26), Alto will be hosting a public consultation open house from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m. at the McDonnel Street Community Centre at 577 McDonnel Street. There will be a series of booths where attendees can meet Alto team members to learn about specific aspects of the project like travel times, the corridor under study, engineering and design, economic impacts and more. Feedback from the open house will help inform Alto’s selection of the rail network alignment and station locations.
In the only other comment on the item, councillor Kevin Duguay said that it makes “eminent sense that we pre-commit (funding) and proceed with appropriate planning for the Alto station, so I wholeheartedly support this staff report.”
Council then voted 10-0 in support of the request to allocate $375,000 in each of the 2027 and 2028 capital budgets for a Coldsprings secondary planning study, which was a unanimous vote as councillor Don Vassiliadis was absent from the meeting.
Items endorsed by general committee will be considered by council for final approval next Monday (February 23), when registered delegations will be allowed to speak.
The original version of this story has been updated to clarify the mayor’s quote about the area required by Alto stations.
