Beach Strip residents campaign

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
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Monday, October 02, 2006 | Updated at 7:50 AM EDT

Rakshande Italia
The Hamilton Spectator
Residents of the Beach Strip in Hamilton are going to city council today with a plan to build a recreational trail along the Eastport Drive bayfront.

It would run from the Burlington ship canal to Windemere Basin. The 3.6-kilometre path would connect with the Waterfront Trail to create a 12-kilometre route. It would have fishing access, park benches, fishing platforms built on small piers, facilities to view wildlife and a bicycle trail.

Jim Howlett, president of the Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee, said residents will have aerial photographs of the proposed route to help councillors better understand the proposal.

He said the land involved is owned by several organizations, including the Hamilton Port Authority, the province and the City of Hamilton. They would have to co-operate for the plan to succeed.

The proponents already have more than $ 1 million from the sale of expropriated properties along Beach Boulevard.
 

scotto

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The Beach Strip
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Committee wants million-dollar upgrade to Beach Strip
Kevin Werner, Stoney Creek News

(Oct 6, 2006)
It could take up to $2 million to re-establish recreation activities to parts of the Beach Strip, says Jim Howlett, president of the Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee.

About 60 years ago, residents along the beach area boated, swam, and enjoyed themselves along the Bay side of the beach, long before the construction of the Burlington Skyway.

"There's a long history of recreation activities on the Bay side," he told members of the public works and environment committee this week.

The Beach Preservation Committee has been advocating for years to build more recreation facilities in the area and slowly it has happened. Windemere Basin is slowly being transformed into a park with trails. But more needs to be done, said Mr. Howlett. A trail should connect Windemere Basin and the Beach Trail, trails should be created underneath the Burlington Skyway linking the Bay and the Beach strip, benches, parkettes should be created along Eastport Drive and conflicting land ownership issues among the city, the Hamilton Port Authority and the federal government must be solved, he said.

It could cost between $1 million to $2 million to create the green area around the skyway, he said.

"We should work together to make this happen," he said.

Hamilton councillor Chad Collins, who represents the area, said there is a reserve fund in place that could pay for the recreation projects.

"This represents the hopes and thoughts of people who reside in the area," he said. "There is a lot of work to pull it all together."
 

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
#3
The Hamilton Beach Preservation Committee is looking for support from area groups in this project. We already have the backing of City Council, MP Wayne Marston, Environment Hamilton, Hamilton Waterfront Trust and the Hamilton Conservation Authority.
Any questions, concerns or comments can be sent to <hbcf@cogeco.ca>

Also, attached are several drawing of the proposed trail section along the East Harbour, many thanks to Werner Plessl :tbu: of the Hamilton Waterfront Trust for taking the time to produce these excellent images of the project.
Due to Internet Explorer properties, allow the image to load when clicked on, place cursor over image and click on the expand icon on the bottom right of your srceen.

http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyr...8816-7717529AA07C/0/Oct02PWIEMinutes06014.pdf
 

Mormac

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May 1, 2006
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The new Bayfront trail looks like a winner. There are so many new recreational areas to be enjoyed. I have a question that doesn't actually relate but does concern access. Recently I had reason to travel down Burlington St. (a real treat) With all the construction I couldn't see an access to the beach. I did see a sign for Eastport Dr. How do you get onto the beach strip from that area?
 

scotto

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Feb 15, 2004
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The Beach Strip
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Mormac said:
The new Bayfront trail looks like a winner. There are so many new recreational areas to be enjoyed. I have a question that doesn't actually relate but does concern access. Recently I had reason to travel down Burlington St. (a real treat) With all the construction I couldn't see an access to the beach. I did see a sign for Eastport Dr. How do you get onto the beach strip from that area?
Thanks for the support Mormac, hopefully it will be a go and it can become something we all can enjoy instead of more tank farms.
The only access direct from Burlington Street is the same one that has been there for many years. It just re-openned and it is part of the Niagara bound traffic, just stay in the very right hand lane.
 
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