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www.insidehalton.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, November 16, 2017 | 14 S afety enhancem ents w ill b en efit cycling trail by Marta Marychuk Oakville Beaver Staff Oakville North-Burlington Member of Par liament Pam Damoff reinforced her commit ment for safe cycling by highlighting upgrades the Oakville Crosstown Heritage Trail will re ceive, at an announcement Monday, Nov. 13. As part of the federal government' s activi ties to honour Canada' s 150th anniversary of Confederation in 2017, FedDev Ontario an nounced earlier this year that it will contrib ute up to one-third or $235,000 of the total project cost of $735,000. The remaining $500,000 share of the project has been included in the Town of Oakville' s capital budget as part of its Active Transportation Master Plan. Damoff credited the Town for applying for the funding. "We just need more," she told a small group of supporters Monday evening. She made the announcement after present ing Petition e-957 in the House of Commons, on Nov. 1, calling for the adoption of a Trans Canada Trail Act that will set minimum stan dards for safety and quality, and ensure the trail is a non-motorized and world-class gre enway. The Oakville Crosstown Trail runs along a natural gas pipeline between Upper Middle Road and Dundas Street, from Bronte Creek Provincial Park to Ninth Line, in Mississauga. Oakville North-Burlington MP Pam Damoff announced Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program money for a section of Oakville's Crosstown Trail. Damoff arrives at the announcement location along with Cycling Oakville executive, from left, Jim Ivey, Peter Phillips, Fraser Damoff and David Harris. | Graham Paine/Metroland An avid cyclist, Damoff co-founded Cycle Oakville to promote cycling and improved cycling infrastructure. In 2013, she received a Bicycling Leadership Award for promoting cycling in Ontario. "Any funding toward cycling is a great benefit," added Leon Hawse, of the Oakville Cycling Club, w ho was present at Monday' s announcement. The Oakville Cycling Club is a 500-mem ber association that draws members from Hamilton, Ancaster, Milton and Mississauga, in addition to Oakville and Burlington. During the summer, Hawse says cyclists are out in full force, with six groups of cyclists from their group organizing rides twice a week. Damoff said one of the biggest hurdles to cycling safety is funding. "W e' ve got a lot more w e need to do," she said, calling on the province to help make cycling safer. Enhancements to a three-kilometre por tion of the Oakville Crosstown Heritage Trail, from Neyagawa Boulevard to Eighth Line, will include widening sections of the trail and replacing limestone screening with asphalt. The enhancements will benefit cyclists and persons with disabilities. Other improvements include: benches in rest areas; installing trail counting data re corders; trail signage and pedestrian cross ings; and, creating improved landscaping and drainage. Damoff pointed out Oakville Crosstown Heritage Trail could provide a much-needed link to the Oakville GO Station through a tunnel at Sixth Line and under the Queen Elizabeth Way. Damoff says construction on the trail is ex pected to begin in March 2018. Y M C A C a n d le lig h W a lk fo r P e a ce November 20 |6:45-8:00 pm YMCA of Oakville |410 Rebecca St. Walk with us by candlelight and explore peace. Join us for this free fam ily event! As part o f our w ork on Truth and Reconciliation in Halton, our candlelight walk w ill welcome Chief Stacey Laforme o f the Mississaugas o f the New Credit First Nation and Stephen Paquette, Indigenous Knowledge Guide, to help us understand the im portance o f peace from an Indigenous perspective. YM CA 1 week i % * I . YM CA of Oakville / ymcaofoakville.org