Feds turn over Burlington Canal piers to Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority for future pedestrian use – Hamilton
Transport Canada has formally handed over operation of the Burlington Canal Piers to Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority (HOPA).
In a media occasion on Tuesday, Minister Omar Alghabra informed onlookers that the federal authorities’s choice to relinquish management was pushed by discussions with native stakeholders advocating to maintain the piers open to native communities.
“They’re extremely significant for native communities for every kind of functions, together with I feel, marriage ceremony pictures,” mentioned Alghabra. “So it’s a big utility for native communities.”
Learn extra:
Possession switch clears approach for restoration of Seashore Canal Lighthouse
The switch comes after entry for residents was restricted in 2021 with the set up of lockable swing gates amid considerations from Transport Canada over pedestrian security.
Final 12 months, a Transport Canada spokesperson informed World Information the company was conscious of native residents utilizing the piers for leisure functions however insisted that was “not the meant objective” of the industrial web site.
Federal Liberal MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek and former Hamilton councillor Chad Collins characterised entry to the piers as “a kind of nagging points” that couldn’t be resolved.
The basis of angst amongst native politicians surrounded tens of tens of millions in municipal investments across the waterfront and piers by each Burlington and Hamilton proliferating leisure entry for the general public alongside the harbour and lakeshore.
“At the moment’s announcement goes a good distance in an extended line of investments which have allowed individuals to go to our waterfront areas and luxuriate in, on this occasion, the pier as pedestrians, cyclists and concrete anglers,” Collins mentioned.
Ian Hamilton, president and CEO of the Hamilton-Oshawa Port Authority, referred to the piers as a “jewel within the crown” of redevelopment which incorporates the latest federal switch of the defunct lighthouse and close by keeper’s cottage from the Division of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) to HOPA.
Hamilton says the importance of the switch means HOPA can negotiate with the close by municipalities for leisure use of the properties.
“We’ve already begun speaking to the cities of Hamilton and Burlington and the area of Halton, and we consider all of us need the identical factor,” remarked Hamilton.
Learn extra:
Federal authorities invests nearly $18 million in Hamilton port lands
“We’ve requested the individuals to be slightly affected person. There’s work to be accomplished on security parts within the close to time period, and that’s the position of HOPA.”
Each Hamilton and Burlington have expressed curiosity in leasing the piers for $1 as a part of the leisure infrastructure that connects the piers with the waterfront path and beachfront park.
“It is going to take a while to get there,” Hamilton mentioned. “We wish to handle expectations about that, however this is step one. After they’re improved, these pairs can be a beautiful complement to the Fisherman’s Pier improvement.”
