Parks in Windsor, Ontario - Bike Trails - Further Information

Further Information

Windsor City Council has repeatedly expressed its full intentions on completing the bike trail/bike lane network, linking all separate parts, and has started doing so by marking bike lanes on streets and building new trails. One main difficulty is how to link the Riverwalk trail (Ambassador Bridge to Hiram Walker's) to the Ganatchio Trail in the east end. One plan is to add Bike Lanes to Wyandotte Street until a bike trail can be constructed. Many of the trails are currently interconnected by low-traffic "Bike Friendly Routes", which are just quiet residential streets near bike trails and parks, and Bike Lanes, along busier main roads, with signs to denote bike lanes, their beginnings, and ends. The city claims to be preparing to link to the Chrysler Canada Greenway via the West Windsor Recreationway, linking to the La Salle Trail, and through the town of La Salle, Ontario to the Trans-Canada Trail.

Recently, the Windsor Star and a few of the Detroit television stations have reported the City of Detroit wanting to build a bike trail network similar to Windsor's, stretching from Hart Plaza, along the Renaissance Center, to Chene Park and Belle Isle, and even considering a ferry across the river for cyclists and pedestrians. The ferry idea has since stalled, and in light of recent security increases along the border (combined with the introduction of mandatory passports along the border), this probably will not happen for a long time, if ever.

One common sight on the Riverwalk trail is to see many people walking or riding bikes at the same time. The trail serves a dual purpose of exercise/recreation and commuting, since many people have chosen to use their bicycles instead of their cars (which has started to save the City of Windsor money in road repair costs). In the summer, the trail is so busy and so well-used, it can seem "congested" or "backed-up" at times, from all the pedestrians and cyclists.