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Officials with the Town of Rosemere and the Trans Canada Trail Foundation gathered on a patch of greenspace on rue Lefrançois in Rosemere on June 8 to open a new trail pavilion. Trail users will be able to rest there and the names of donors from the Laurentian region will be found inscribed on a special commemorative plaque.
900 people donated
The pavilion will be a stopping point for anyone passing through Rosemere on the trail. More than 900 people from the Laurentian area made contributions that allowed the foundation to acquire a metre of trail for each donation.
Among the guests at the pavilion launch was Eileen Hemens, daughter of former Rosemere mayor Harry Hemens, and Canadian Olympic skiing champ and Rosemere resident, Alexandre Bilodeau, who led a group of youngsters from the Académie Sainte-Thérèse riding bicycles across a bridge near the new pavilion.
The Rosemere pavilion is the ninth to be erected on the trail in Quebec. The trail passes through the Laurentians along a corridor that was once used by the railway line that served the legendary P’Tit Train du Nord, which brought many generations of skiers up north to the Laurentians.
Rosemere helped
The Trans Canada Trail Foundation’s Quebec Council was able to obtain the cooperation of the Town of Rosemere to bring the pavilion project to fruition. Mayor Hélène Daneault said she was honoured that Rosemere was chosen as the only site so far for a pavilion in the Laurentians. “It’s something very interesting for us which will allow cyclists to stop and get a take in some of the enchanting scenery to be seen in Rosemere,” she said.
Some of the outdoor benches and tables provided at the site were made by Goodfellow and Corcan Industries, manufacturing ventures that are operated in conjunction with prison inmates. Other Trans Canada Trail sites have also been equipped with gear produced by the companies.
21,000 kilometre route
The Rosemere pavilion is the 87th to be installed across the country on the Trans Canada Trail. The trail, which is now 70 per cent complete, will extend 21,000 kilometres and will be the longest continuous recreational trail of its kind in the world when finished. The Quebec section of the trail is 95 per cent complete and is 1,475 kilometres long. Mile zero of the Trail is located in St. John’s, Newfoundland.
In Quebec, the trail passes through the regions of la Mauricie, de Lanaudière, des Laurentides and the Outaouais. The creation of the trail was announced as part of Canada's 125th anniversary elebrations in 1992. It has its counterparts in other parts of the world, like the Euro Velo routes in Europe and the USA's East Coast Greenway.
A ‘rail trail’
Much of the Trans Canada Trail has been built as a so-called “rail trail” along defunct railroad lines donated by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. Some parts of the Trans Canada Trail run along existing trails such as the Rideau Trail in Ontario, or along the trail systems of national and provincial parks.
Other parts of the right-of-way for the Trans Canada Trail have been paid for by individual donations. In exchange for a donation, any person can have their name inscribed in recognition of their having made a metre of trail available. More than a hundred thousand people have done so, including those whose names can be found in the trail pavilion in Rosemere.
A multi-use trail
The Trans Canada Trail is multi-use in nature and, depending on the section, may allow hikers, bicyclists, cross country skiers, all-terrain vehicles and snowmobilers. The regularly spaced pavilions provide shelter as well as fresh water to travellers, but this varies widely from section to section, and particularly from province to province. A Map of the Trans Canada Trail can be found on the organization’s web site: www.tctrail.ca
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