My comments are specific to…

My comments are specific to the Rail Crossing route from Goderich to Midland. While this route is in principle mostly complete, there are a few vital links needed to make contiguous journeys possible. Day trip tourism is beneficial, however, multi-day stays always bring more dollars to the surrounding communities. Additionally, this promotes healthy and active lifestyle stay-acations within the province of Ontario. There is a lot of win-win to this. The required additions to the trail system would require minimal investment, it makes sense to prioritize these as “quick hits” with great return on investment now and in the future. This applies to local economies and improved health impact (and reduced health care dollars).

Aware of personal ridership experience with the trail some sections of the route are in need of repair and maintenance. Specifically, once you get about 20km outside of Goderich on the Guelph to Goderich rail trail, it gets pretty wild. While it does also bring a very natural beauty to the trail, it also limits the number of users that would want to traverse that section. The trail is inconsistent like this for about 80km. The suggestion here would be to audit the section and do all that can be done to improve the trail in an effort to open it up to as many users as possible.

Please create a funding mechanism to help communities add better signage where the trail crosses paved surfaces. Also, making on-road connections clearly marked as such with signs and road markings will be beneficial to creating a safer environment for all users. This could be similar to those already in place through tourism organizations and other levels of government would help make decisions about investing much easier. Overall, this will limit risk and liability for all communities along the route.

Thank you for your interest and commitment in this important and valuable component of our infrastructure. This is an exciting project for today and the future, with benefit for multiple generations.

[Original Comment ID: 209483]