An event at Evergreen Brickworks on June 3rd ushered in the next phase for development of Toronto’s ambitious Loop Trail project. The gathering included Evergreen staff, City officials responsible for parks and ravines, community project sponsors, and an array of organizations and individuals (including MRG) engaged with different aspects of the project. Mayor Olivia Chow kicked off the event with remarks underlining the mental health benefits of ravines and wilderness trails, emphasizing the need to improve green space access across the city.
The Loop Trail is an 80km multi-use trail around central Toronto, running across the waterfront, up along the Humber River in the west, across the Finch hydro corridor in the north, and down the Don River valley in the east, connecting communities across the city. Much of this trail already exist, but there are some significant gaps that need to be bridged. There is also much more that can be done to integrate the Loop into the adjacent communities.
The Loop also includes a central east-west leg, roughly following the Beltline trail that runs through the midtown area and provides a link between the Humber and Don River corridors. Both the Moore Park Ravine and the Vale of Avoca form part of the cross-town link and also create a small scale local loop including Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
The project is transformative. It’s initial development phase will run from 2027 to 2032, and will have a budget of $300 million. Approximately half of this will cover basic trail infrastructure and connections. Investment in ecological restoration and community-oriented facilities and amenities are the other main categories.
The Loop project is highly complementary to MRG’s project to restore the Vale of Avoca, magnifying and improving connections from the Vale to the rest of the City. Like our project for the Vale, it will add accessible green space badly needed for the mental and physical health of a rapidly growing Toronto population, while supporting biodiversity in Toronto’s ravines and climate resilience.
The Midtown Ravines Group is proud to partner with Evergreen and other advocates creating projects connecting our neighbourhoods and protecting the natural spaces around us.
