Federal investment of $2.6 million enhances visitor experience with renewed facilities and infrastructure
Toronto – Nature is central to Canada’s identity. For millions of people living in the Greater Toronto Area, Rouge National Urban Park puts nature within reach. Parks Canada is dedicated to improving access to greenspace for those living in cities while conserving and sharing the country’s natural and cultural heritage.
Gary Anandasangaree, MP for Scarborough-Rouge Park and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Environment and Climate Change and Minister responsible for Parks Canada, announced the reopening of the Twyn Rivers Day Use Area in Rouge National Urban Park. Located in Canada’s largest metropolitan area, this $2.6 million federally funded project features enhancements to visitor facilities and park infrastructure.
Visitors can now enjoy an experience that includes:
- Significant improvements to existing trails and a new accessible trail section;
- ·Two new pedestrian bridges over the Little Rouge Creek;
- A renewed and expanded parking area with 83 vehicle parking spaces;
- An enhanced recreation and day use area with a larger greenspace, gardens, accessible furnishings (e.g., change tables, picnic tables) and solar lights; and,
- A year-round accessible washroom facility.
In addition, the renewal of this site will guide visitors through various trails to a single crosswalk on Twyn Rivers Drive, greatly reducing the number of on-road pedestrians. In collaboration with the City of Toronto, a controlled pedestrian crosswalk light will be installed for even greater visitor safety.
With input from Rouge National Urban Park First Nations Advisory Circle members, the Twyn Rivers Day Use Area parking lot has also been reoriented to create a greater natural buffer between the parking area and Little Rouge Creek. The area now features a “bioswale garden,” which traps toxins and prevents them from flowing into the creek. Newly planted native trees and shrubs, alongside existing mature trees, will provide shade and habitat around the parking lot.
To preserve the cultural heritage in the area, the below-ground foundations of the historic Rouge Valley Inn, dating back to the early 1900s, have been kept, and a portion of the Inn’s former dam has been repurposed and incorporated into the design. Visitors can view the heritage structure at the base of the fencing near the creek. Through infrastructure investments like this, the Government of Canada is helping visitors foster meaningful connections with nature in Rouge National Urban Park, while protecting biodiversity for future generations.