The last remaining gap in Barrie's part of the Trans Canada Trail has been filled.
Mayor Jeff Lehman was joined by city staff and a Trail representative to cut a red ribbon to mark the official opening of the final connection through the Whiskey Creek Valley.
The city recently restored 200 metres of Trail from Little Avenue to Yonge Street to complete the approximately 20 km of Trans Canada Trail that passes through the city.
A beaming Jim Paterson from Trans Canada Trail Ontario was on hand to witness the opening and walk the new trail.
"This is great. This is very significant today, to get this section built," said Paterson. "Now the trail is complete here in Barrie we have only a few trail gaps remaining in Ontario."
The work was completed through a funding partnership with the Trans Canada Trail Foundation which provided a $24,000 grant to the city.
The Trans Canada Trail project started in 1992 to celebrate Canada's 125th year and the goal is to have a continuous route from coast to coast to coast in time for Canada's 150th birthday next year.
Locally, Mayor Lehman says the trail that winds along Whiskey Creek will help connect area residents with the waterfront, like many other city pathways.
"You can be in a neighbourhood that's a long way from a waterfront in Barrie and actually walk down to the waterfront. A lot of people don't have any idea the extent of the trail system that already exists," he said.
Restoring the trail was a challenge for engineers who had to fill a gap between two existing sections built by developers around housing.
Area residents say the trail was prone to flooding and washouts.
Walter Fischer, Supervisor Parks Planning says the Trail can take people through Barrie and beyond to Midhurst and Springwater Township.
"It's nice to have the gap in the valley system to avoid the sidewalks and the streets. It gives people a place to walk in our open space and green space areas."
The challenge for engineers was designing a trail system that would go on the unstable soil in the Valley.
"What we're on top of here is a lot of top soil and sediment deposit from the water course over the years," said Bill McGregor, landscape architectural planner. "We just built something with a giant snowshoe underneath of it, literally, to support the weight and disperse the weight so we can drive trucks and everything over top of this and we won't have any issues."
The giant snowshoe was made with filter fabric geo-textiles and on top of it is a road base completed with crushed granite.
Ward 8 councillor Arif Khan attended the grand re-opening of the Trail and called it 'incredible.'
"This is about peace. It's about tranquility. It's about exercise and getting true family time," he said. "It will connect the city."
There will be a learning component to Barrie trails that will educate people about the trails' history.
"I'm looking forward to some of the geo-tagging and geo-activities that people will be able to learn either through placards and online apps," said Khan.
One of the unique trail features planned will be Willard Kinzie's "high five bronze."
Barrie's first city mayor, who turned 97 in September, went to city hall recently to get a plaster cast of his hand which will then be done in bronze and mounted on a pad.
The bronze hand will be placed at the end of the North Shore Trail so people who complete the trek can give a triumphant high five.
Norma and Wayne Sykes live beside the newly restored trail and say they walk it everyday.
"We hope it holds up," Wayne said of the new path that he says has been washed out by rain in the past.
Before the gap was filled, the seniors had to trek through overgrown brush and climb a hill to get to Yonge Street.
"We're really glad to see it here. You feel like you're in the country," said Norma of the tranquil path that connects them to their necessities without driving.
