by sentierschelseatrails | Jan 3, 2018 | Members & Volunteers
The Community Winter Trail is up and running for 12th ski season. There will now be close to 21 kilometres of groomed trail reaching from the Morrison Quarry in the north, to chemin Wallace in the south. For this year, the trail ends at Wallace because of safety and stability concerns resulting from the summer washouts which occurred between Wallace and Loretta.
A groomed trail like this could not survive without strong community support from a volunteer force, our municipal government, the investment and involvement of local businesses through sponsorships and individuals who donate to the Chelsea Trails winter grooming fund. We are proud to say our 6 major sponsors are all back for another year. They include Gazifere, Greg Christie’s , Lafleur, Le Nordik, Physiosport Chelsea and Pub Chelsea. (more…)
by sentierschelseatrails | Nov 8, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
A dozen volunteers from Chelsea Trails spent 90 hours this fall building a small bridge across a creek on the municipal trail in the Route 105 – Pine Road area. The work was done during three Saturday morning work bees, using materials and tools provided by the Municipality of Chelsea. Heavy rains and a new beaver dam located nearby made for high water, making the job a bit more challenging.
by sentierschelseatrails | Oct 24, 2017 | Events
Recently, Sentiers Chelsea Trails provided all candidates with a trails related questionnaire. It was an opportunity for candidates to relate their ideas around trails, active transport, and connecting neighbourhoods. (more…)
by Sentiers Chelsea | Oct 17, 2017 | Activités
Sentiers Chelsea Trails est un organisme caritatif sans but lucratif, mis sur pied par des résidents de Chelsea pour protéger et améliorer le réseau de sentiers non motorisés qui relie les quartiers de Chelsea et offre aux résidents un moyen agréable et sécuritaire pour se déplacer et s’amuser. Depuis les dernières élections municipales, SCT a connu un volume croissant d’activités ainsi qu’un appui grandissant de la collectivité. (more…)
by sentierschelseatrails | Oct 13, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
Rebook for next week, Sunday October 22. Due to the super rainy forecast for Sunday, we are postponing our hike on Chelsea Park’s new trail this weekend and moving it until next Sunday. Same time & same place.
by sentierschelseatrails | Oct 3, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
Residents have been working on connecting the neighbourhoods of Chelsea Park for the past few years. Come and see what has been accomplished! Board member and leader of the effort, Marc Desjardins, will facilitate the hike from Grand-Boise, showing us the new linkages between Belle Terre and du Manoir (off Meredith) and the new trail of two bridges to the 105.
We will return to École du Grand-Boise in approximately 2.5 hours. We will hike, rain or shine, but not in high winds or heavy rain.
by sentierschelseatrails | Aug 4, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
Track removal begins next week.
The municipality of Chelsea is going ahead with a first phase of work to remove the rails and the wooden ties in the weeks ahead. For more information on the rail dismantling work see the information on the municipal website at: http://www.chelsea.ca/?q=content/beginning-work-removal-rails-and-ties-railway-corridor&lg=en It has been a long process and much more community consultation is needed. In the months ahead this consultation will shape the ultimate design of the community trail. We want to share with you the news that there is progress being made!
New charity launched in Chelsea to raise one million dollars for future trail
After several months of preparation a new charitable organization, Voie Verte Chelsea has been launched. This organization is dedicated in the short term to raising the funds required to develop a four season, multi functional trail along the Chelsea railway corridor. Chelsea Trails is pleased to be on the board of this new organization to help make this trail affordable for Chelsea residents.
Here’s the text of the press release:
It’s official. A group of Chelsea residents registered, at the end of July, a new not-for-profit called Voie Verte Chelsea (VVC) to help raise money for the conversion of the railway corridor into a year-round community trail.
VVC will start to approach foundations, corporations and individuals who want to invest in the community trail. “We have set an initial goal of one million dollars and have already got our list of targets who are specifically interested in funding rails-to-trails conversions,” says Sandy Foote, President of Voie Verte Chelsea.
The idea for VVC grew out of the Trail Finance Working Group, set up by the municipality in April, to explore the availability of sources of funds for these types of projects. “In our research, we found numerous funding sources but many of them were not available to municipalities. You needed to be a non-profit to apply,” explains councillor Simon Joubarne, Chair of the Trail Finance Working Group.
When the Trail Finance Working Group considered the best practises of rails-to-trails conversion projects across the country, they found the best way to maximize funding opportunities was to form a not-for-profit charity that works in close partnership with the municipality.
To create the founding group of VVC, a meeting was held with interested citizens, who live adjacent to the trail, are active trail users or representatives of other community groups like ACRE, Cascades Club, Sentiers Chelsea Trails, and Rails-to-Trails.
While VVC is arms length from the municipality, a close partnership is essential to a successful fund-raising campaign. The driving mission of the VVC is to buffer the taxpayers of Chelsea from the full costs of developing the trail.
“I’m glad to see VVC step up to the challenge of raising money because we are a small community and it takes this kind of partnership to make a project like this possible,” says Charles Ricard, Director General of Chelsea. Council approved M. Ricard’s appointment to a non-voting seat on the board of VVC to facilitate the partnership.
by sentierschelseatrails | Jul 31, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
If you see this sign: Please walk your bicycle
Chelsea Trails proudly announces the near completion of the Belle Terre Trail connecting with chemin du Manoir and Belle Terre. We would like to thank the landowners who have graciously allowed access to the trails across their land.
There are several signs posted on the trail, asking the trail users to dismount from their bikes. It is very important for cyclists to respect the wishes of the property owners to not cycle on the trails across their land. Private landowners have allowed access and may equally relinquish the privilege. Further, to protect the property owners’ privacy, please remain on the trail and be aware of the noise level, particularly at night. Thank you in advance for respecting the trails specifications.
by sentierschelseatrails | Jul 14, 2017 | Members & Volunteers, Trail Projects, Work Bees
The trail building in the area encircled by Old Chelsea, the 105, and Scott is a good example of the spirit and vision of Chelsea Trails. This ‘triangle’ contains two elementary school, the Meredith Centre, and many homes and municipal green spaces. But right now, in many cases, a child living 500 metres from their school can’t walk or bike there. This is particularly true if the only entrance to a home or street is off of the 105, on which children are not allowed to ride their bikes (since the speed limit for cars is 70km/hr).
Marc Desjardins, the SCT Sector Champion for this area, hopes to change all that. For the past several years, Marc has been working with the municipality and local landowners to create a system of footpaths that can link streets in this area to each other and to access points on Scott and Old Chelsea. Work this summer will be done behind Ben’s Towing but there are also three other paths in this area that have either been restored or are in the planning stages. Much of these trails follow municipal corridors, but some portions are only possible thanks to the collaboration of local landowners. Marc has knocked on many doors and held open meetings to garner support, and has taken the wishes of local landowners into account when designing certain portions.
As always, these improvements would only be possible with many hours of volunteer effort, in collaboration with the municipality. One important volunteer has been Leilak Anderson, a certified arborist, who has kindly donated and delivered extra mulch for the trails.
by sentierschelseatrails | Jun 27, 2017 | Members & Volunteers
This public meeting is part of the research being conducted by the Montreal consulting group BC2 for their social impact assessment study on the community trail project. They will be present to collect your input and ideas and will submit them to the council.
If you have to miss the meeting but want to contribute your thoughts to the process, you may email your comments to [email protected].The study is supposed to be completed by the end of July so we suggest you get your comments sent by July 6 if you want them to be included in the study.
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