Although the benefits may not be seen for another 10 years, the rails to trails initiative could be the qualify of life factor that gives Windsor an incredible shot in the arm. The new trail system would provide Windsorites with a source of pride and something to brag about to people outside the city. An extensive urban trail system would be a wonderful selling point for getting people to move to Windsor. If only the dollar and the US WHTI would cooperate....
More rail discussion from the Windsor Star's Gordo:
Liability to asset
Gord Henderson, Windsor Star
Published: Thursday, May 04, 2006
We call it The Rose City but a more apt title for Windsor would be Bondage Burg, given the 55 kilometres of railway line and 75 rail crossings that tie this city up in knots.
It's a dubious claim to fame, but Windsor boasts the highest concentration of track per capita of any city in Canada and more than 11,000 Windsor homes (a staggering 13 per cent of all dwellings) are located within three football field lengths of a railway line.
The wrong side of the tracks? Hell. We all live on the wrong side of the tracks in Windsor, given their almost universal presence here.
But could this city's worst feature (apart from Zalev) become its greatest asset? That's the argument Mayor Eddie Francis was making during his state-of-the-city address when he invoked the memory of the late Roy Battagello, Windsor's waterfront warrior, in pushing a rails-to-trails plan that would extend the riverfront park system along vacated rail corridors.
"Roy. We hear you," said Francis in vowing to build on the riverfront legacy left by visionaries like Battagello and the late mayor Bert Weeks in making rail corridor transformation Windsor's urban renewal project of the 21st Century.
Nancy Battagello, Roy's widow, told me she's delighted with the initiative. "I think it's wonderful. Way back when Roy had his original vision for the riverfront, he had an idea for greenways running through the city and county. If he was here, he'd be giving Eddie a lot of advice."
But she warned the proposal, like her husband's riverfront vision, is bound to face hostility from a segment of the community that will dismiss it as a costly pipedream and a misuse of tax dollars that could be used to fill potholes.
BATTAGELLO THICK-SKINNED
"It will come up against a lot of criticism," said Battagello. She pointed out that her husband ran into waves of negativity over greening the riverfront "but he was very thick-skinned so he just plodded along." The problem, she said, is that many people live only for the moment and don't see their obligation to make improvements that will primarily benefit future generations.
Fortunately, said Battagello, more and more people are travelling and seeing how things are done elsewhere and they appreciate living in a city that's aesthetically pleasing.
Decades of clamouring and bickering preceded that historic 1999 Riverwalk in which 6,000 residents commemorated the formal opening of this city's pride and joy, its 4.7 kilometre ribbon of green from the Ambassador Bridge to the Hiram Walker distillery.
But the next great leap forward could come faster. "Absolutely it will happen," said Francis, referring to plans for an intermodal transportation facility at Windsor Airport that would enable the railway companies to consolidate their operations here.
The mayor, who recently toured an intermodal terminal in Dallas County, Texas, said Transport Canada, rail companies and the city are working in partnership here and there's a sense of urgency, given the financial imperative of alleviating pressure on seaports and removing freight bottlenecks.
If rationalization takes place after complex negotiations among the involved parties, what happens to those many kilometres of abandoned track? Fortunately, said Francis, much of the homework has been done. Technical studies are complete or nearing completion and it's time to consult the community and begin making plans.
Well bring it on, because I can't think of anything that would do more for Windsor's quality of life, not to mention its self-image, than wiping out dozens of traffic-strangling level crossings and turning its butt-ugly rail corridors into green pathways linking all parts of the city.
Imagine being able to walk or cycle from South Windsor to the riverfront without facing a gauntlet of homicidal drivers. Imagine if the overwhelming success of the Ganatchio Trail, the couch potato's worst nightmare, could be duplicated across this city. Imagine if your neighbourhood, like mine, were close to a tree-lined and flower-strewn recreational trail rather than a grimy train route.
Toronto's great lifestyle advantage is its hidden network of leafy ravines. Windsor's big edge as a place to live could some day be its extensive trail system.
Francis, who has set a two-term limit on himself, said he obviously won't be in office to see this vision of a vastly more inviting Windsor completed "but we've got to get it started."
The sooner the better.
ghenderson@thestar.canwest.com