Bike path is on the right track

The finishing touches are being put on an agreement to allow a cycling trail to cross around the property of Pearson International Airport (PIA), providing a key link that could soon create a 50-km trail from Toronto to Caledon.
Negotiations have begun with the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) and are expected to result in an agreement next spring to allow extension of the existing bike trail along the Etobicoke Creek Valley, says City of Mississauga Ward 5 councillor Eve Adams.
Adams, a member of the City's cycling advisory committee, told The National Post that, "the big push in cycling circles is this concept of connectivity. You want to be able to get onto a trail and go for a long run.”
The Etobicoke Creek Trail starts near Marie Curtis Park at the eastern boundary of Mississauga and goes north to Hwy. 401. The airport section would be placed outside a security fence that isolates airport operations from the surrounding passive valley lands.
It would provide a link from the southern section to existing pathways in Brampton, which are being designed to provide a connection.
“It’s a great opportunity to allow residents to get out and do something healthy, and enjoy this beautiful natural scenery in the middle of what is a very urban area,” says Adams. “It’s really beautiful actually; there are deer that go through the area, and it’s wonderful for quality of life.”
GTAA spokesperson Scott Armstrong said that, while security is an issue, the authority is seeking concessions to meet its concerns.
“The proviso that we had to put in was that we will have gates on each end,” says Armstrong. “If there ever was an accident or an incident or something, where we did not want people in that specific area, we could close it off.”
If all goes well, the path will be built next summer, with opening in the spring of 2009.

onlinenews@mississauga.net