A new 1 km trail has been constructed in Confederation Park that is the first project in what is proposed to be an $80-million facelift for the popular venue.

“It’s been a construction area for quite some time,” said Ward 5 councillor Chad Collins who has championed the redevelopment of Confederation Park for years. “But it’s open to the public.”

Contractors recently finished a 1 km new trail around the Stoney Creek Pond on the former campground site after nearly a year of work that will connect to the main Lake Ontario Trail system. About 80 per cent of the new trail was built on existing roadways within the park, while 20 per cent of the trail was constructed within the forest area.

The new trail includes 350 metres that link up Confederation Drive north to the existing pedestrian bridge at the Hamilton Beach Trail; redeveloping the existing gravel maintenance road into an asphalt trail along the west shore of the Stoney Creek Pond (the road will still provide maintenance accessibility); asphalt improvements to 250 metres of Confederation Drive that connects the two new segments; improvements to the limestone foot-trail along the eastern shore of the Stoney Creek Pond and adding a connecting pathway to a new 40-square-metre accessible wood observation deck, just outside of the Natural Heritage System Boundary.

Other features that were incorporated into the $560,000 project include a 160-square-metre turtle nesting area along the north-west corner of the Stoney Creek Pond. Signage has been installed to identify the nesting area for snapping turtles. There is also a 3,500-square-metre butterfly habitat area created in a meadow located to the north of Confederation Drive and east of the Stoney Creek Pond.

A berm has also been eliminated to connect the North Service Road to Confederation Drive to improve access for construction vehicles. The access will eventually provide a new public entrance area to the proposed $7-million Sports Park Facility that is projected to be constructed on the former campground located at the eastern section of Confederation Park.

The improvements to Confederation Park have been slow but steady since council approved the Confederation Park master plan in 2010. Collins has acknowledged there is limited funding available, but he still wants to see at least one of the recommendations in the master plan completed each year.

Last year the city spent about $100,000 cutting down 76 old and diseased trees in the first capital project of the long-term redevelopment of the park around Stoney Creek Pond. About $76,000 had been set aside for replanting.

The new trail system was a major part of re-making the 93-hectare Confederation Park, and a priority in the master plan. As stated in the document, one of the goals is to “strengthen and restore as closely as possible the original habitat first encountered when the area was first settled.”

Collins has allocated about $3 million in the 2014 budget for the park. But that still leaves a sizable chunk of money still needed to build the $7-million sports park around the 5.8-hectare Stoney Creek Pond. The facility is projected to include a cricket pitch, two intermediate soccer fields that can be converted into junior cricket pitches, on-site parking, washrooms and new trees.