To: The Honorable Eleanor…

To: The Honorable Eleanor McMahon, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

Continue Your Effort in; Hardening of Shoulder new and renew construction. Share the Road signage and educational endeavors. Making crown land and forest reserves lands such as found at the Forest Research Station near Chalk River to enhance off road and mountain bike cycling opportunities.

Meet the Needs of: Mom's and Dad's who want the joy experience of cycling for their children and themselves. Seniors who are aware of the health benefits of cycling but just can not surmount the fear factor that road and city streets contain.

We will never be cycling the Trans Canada Highway that we consider to be suicidal.

I live in the town of Pembroke fortuitously there are old train beds that run through the city and indeed encircle the city which could easily provide an opportunity to seniors, handicap user, students commuters to access to all the city's features. The snowmobile club have spent many dollars fixing up the rail bridges and leveling the tracks to date The ATV local groups has also made presentations to city and county governance to access more of these train beds. These routes must be designed and developed as SHARED routes. They do not need to be paved. A good quality quarry dust sufficiently pressed with proper drainage, renders a much reduced cost per kilometer with a higher potential user base. ( ATV, Snowmobiles, joggers, Active Transportation users, long distance touring cyclist and of course we all the worrier types)

The potential to promote our city as a hub of cycling tourism does not necessitate another tourist market analysis report or traffic study, we need to physically lay gravel on track bed.

If we build SAFE place to walk, cycle, jog, etc. they, the old, the young and in between will come. Pass generations build the train tracks to benefit Canada, they still can.

This is my first letter to minister I hope it meets protocol.

Yours truly;

ERIC PRICE
Member OVCATA

[Original Comment ID: 209238]