Ontario Construction News staff writer
The City of Toronto and Government of Canada will join forces to fund the extension of the West Toronto Railpath multi-use trail.
Under the funding agreement the Government of Canada will contribute $23 million and the city will pay $125.7 million.
Construction is planned to begin in 2025.
“Expanding the West Toronto Railpath will connect even more communities and make it easier for people to enjoy our city by walking, cycling or taking transit,” said Mayor Olivia Chow. “Partnership between all levels of government made this possible. Working together, we can connect communities, provide more active transportation options and create new opportunities for sustainable travel.”
The existing 2.1-kilometre trail will be doubled in length, with an additional two kilometres of trail extending south from Dundas Street West at Sterling Road to Abell Street at Sudbury Street, as well as the construction of four new pedestrian-cycle bridges. Construction will begin in mid-2025.
The extension is part of the cycling routes plan to connect to the Bloor GO Station and the upcoming King-Liberty Station.
The West Toronto Railpath follows the trade route that Indigenous peoples would take from the Davenport Trail to the receding Lake Iroquois, following Roncesvalles Avenue. This route was later used as the path of a railway that started in 1871.
The first phase of the West Toronto Railpath from Cariboo Avenue to the Dundas Street West Overpass was completed in 2008. Realignment of the existing Railpath between Wallace Avenue and Bloor Street West began in August 2022.