Laurentian Nordic Ski Trails in Danger

Tue, Dec  5, 2006 - By Friends of Laurentian Nordic Ski Trails

We'd like to inform our fellow skiers across Ontario about a proposed road that would destroy Laurentian Ski Trails in Sudbury.

As I was looking at the club listing on CCC's website, I was surprised at how many clubs I've actually skied at! I'm sure some of the skiers in your club would probably feel the same way if they glanced at club listing. Basically we are looking for anyone who has skied, walked, hiked, biked, or ran our trails and also anyone who may be planning on going to Laurentian University to help us out and sign our online petition and put a short comment down on how they've enjoyed our trails or how they look forward to using them.

Laurentian has also hosted Ontario University Championships, Ontario Cups, and other large races on these trails, so I'm sure there are racers in every club who have raced on these trails at some point.

There is much information, newspaper articles and maps on our website, but I'll give you the quick rundown here. Dalron is building a subdivision just south of 4-corners in Sudbury and would like to build a road through that subdivision, through all of the trails north of it and join up to South Bay road which is where Laurentian University's PhysEd and Medical buildings are. If you are familiar with Laurentian Ski Trails, this would destroy the Wall loop, Sofie's Loop, and the Extension, not to mention countless single track trails which are used for hiking and biking in the summer, or snowshoeing in the winter. The only ski trail left would be the Gully loop.

The argument is that Laurentian University needs a second road for emergency purposes, and possibly to ease traffic. The fact is that there already is an emergency access road which is gated and plowed all winter and hasn't been used in 20 or 30 years. With regard to the traffic concerns, this new road is on the opposite side of Laurentian than the current one and most of the traffic to LU is from the downtown direction and this new road wouldn't serve them at all.

If you or anyone you know is familiar with these trails and would like to add your comments to our petition, please visit www.laurentiannordic.com!

Thanks for your time,

Sincerely

The Friends of Laurentian Nordic Ski Trails www.laurentiannordic.com