| Trailblazers follow common path Group wants better walkways, bike routes Winnipeg Free Press Monday July 14 2003 By Patti Edgar IN an oasis of prairie flowers squeezed between a strip mall and a stadium, Roger Geeves has uncovered partridges, minnows and fat caterpillars that blossom into monarch butterflies. Just a few years ago, this patch of land near Polo Park Shopping Centre was overgrown with thistle and sliding into Omand's Creek. Now a trail runs for a few hundred metres along the waterway, thanks to volunteers like Geeves who lobbied developers and raised funds to plant native trees and flowers. Geeves always imagined the Friends of Omand's Creek trail one day leading from Wolseley Avenue to Little Mountain Park, a distance of about 12 kilometres. But until recently, he had no idea someone else was planning a trail into the park from another part of the city, this time a more urban walk from Seven Oaks. "It was a real mind-blower for me to find out a group in the northeast part of the city was heading into Little Mountain," said Geeves. "We were all working on our little trails oblivious to one another and all we needed was someone to come along with a vision." That someone turned out to be Rosemary Dzus, the executive director of the Manitoba Recreational Trails Association, whose job includes plotting the route of the Trans Canada Trail through the province. As Dzus looked at how to bring the national trail 75 km through Winnipeg, she realized the city's trail groups needed to start talking with each other about improving the whole trail system. The result was the Winnipeg Trails Association, a year-old grassroots coalition of more than 20 community groups trying to turn the city's haphazard collection of short, isolated trails into an integrated, easy-to-identify system of bike paths and walkways. Today, there's about 130 km of mostly disjointed routes, not counting city parks. The Winnipeg Trail Association has come up with a wish list of another 390 km of potential routes, which would connect the shorter trails and bring the city more in line with Calgary's nationally recognized system of 550 km of walking paths. "There are so many small community groups working on trails," said Dzus. "On one hand there needed to be an opportunity to get input from lots of different people, and on the other hand, there is a need to keep it focused." Last year, Paul Jordan, a leading force behind The Forks and the city's river bus, volunteered to head up the Winnipeg Trails Association. Passionate trail builders like Geeves packed meetings and filled each other in on their projects and plans. The City of Winnipeg donated the time of planner Kevin Nixon, who just finished drawing up the inaugural map of Winnipeg's trail systems -- a mish-mash of mostly unconnected city riverside trails, paths in parks and community-built trails like the one at Omand's Creek. Tracing brightly coloured lines on the new map with his finger, Jordan recently compared the future Winnipeg route of the Trans Canada Trail to a river, with other community paths joining and becoming part of it like tributaries. "But there are pieces missing, you can see the gaps in the trails," he said. In one area, two popular trails are separated by just a few hundred metres of forest, an easy spot to clear a path. "This is very low-tech, inexpensive stuff." There is a range of possibilities: little-used railways could be turned to trails, city and provincial property could be rezoned, signs could point people along sidewalks to the next hidden route. The coalition is also interested in promoting the city's trails through Web sites, maps, brochures or signs. As an umbrella group with a list of priorities, the trail groups can more effectively raise funds and influence city planning than they could pursuing their own projects, said Jordan. The only other group that has come close to mapping all of Winnipeg's trails are the founders of the Prairie Pathfinders, a local walking club with 375 members. Their book, Winnipeg Walks, has sold 10,000 copies since 1998. Leone Banks, one of the authors, said some members of the walking club are calling for longer routes, while cyclists are looking to get off clogged city streets. After years of talk, interest in improving the city's trail system is finally reaching a critical mass, she said. "I can imagine that we will increase our trails by at least 25 per cent over the next five years. Which ones will depend on which trail groups are really active. In the end, it comes down to active neighbourhoods and volunteers." Before Omand's Creek reaches Geeves' urban green spot near Polo Park, it snakes through parking lots, abandoned property, the airport, a cemetery and farmers' fields. Despite these obstacles, Geeves can imagine a path running alongside most of the creek one day, attracting cyclists, joggers and industrial park employees looking for a quiet lunch spot. Over the years, he has learned that trail-blazing often means slow, patient work so he is willing to let Omand's Creek take a back seat to other projects if it means overall improvements. "When they get down to the nitty gritty and they say, 'You all have your little pieces of pie, but we've come up with a top 10,' I'll be OK if mine is number 15," said Geeves. "This city is way behind other cities like Edmonton when it comes to trails and we are just starting to catch up." Paths to the future The Winnipeg Trails Association is considering more than a dozen different projects. Here's just a few: CROW WING TRAIL TO WINNIPEG The Trans Canada Trail will enter the south end of Winnipeg via the Crow Wing Trail, which runs all the way to the border town of Emerson. A route through the floodway would bring this trail into the city and connect it with South Winnipeg trails, but a pedestrian bridge would allow year-round access. OMAND'S CREEK TO SEVEN OAKS VIA LITTLE MOUNTAIN PARK A long northwest Winnipeg route could eventually be created if a partially-built trail along Omand's Creek led to Little Mountain Park and met up with the Hearts in Motion trail in Seven Oaks. FORT WHYTE CENTRE TO THE FORKS If a short trail ran from the Fort Whyte Centre in southwest Winnipeg to the Assiniboine Forest it could connect with trails already leading to Wellington Crescent (where you can hop a boat to the Forks). It could also link to the Harte Trail, which runs all the way to Beaudry Park. BISHOP GRANDIN GREENWAY TO SEINE RIVER Construction started this month on a trail along southeast Winnipeg's Bishop Grandin Greenway, which will run five kilometres from St. Vital Cemetery to the Seine River. From there, it could link up with trails the Save Our Seine group is creating. In the far future, the trail could run northwest to the Fort Whyte Centre. [email protected] |