The Meadoway: 16 km stretch of urban park will connect downtown to Scarborough

A 16-kilometre long stretch of landslated to betransformed into a large urban parkcalled The Meadowayis"abold vision," Mayor John Tory said on Wednesday.

The park, which willstretch north fromthe Don River Ravine indowntown Toronto all the way toRouge National Urban Park in Scarborough, will allowpedestrians and cycliststo travel the entire lengthwithout ever leaving the park.

The cityis working with the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (TRCA) and the W. Garfield Weston Foundation to transform a barren power corridor into the green space over the next seven years.

The entire project is expected to cost around $85 million. The W. Garfield Weston Foundation has pledged a total of $25 million to support itover the coming months.

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"[The park] serves as another example of what can be accomplished when we worktogetherwithpublic, privateandphilanthropicpartners," Tory said during an announcement for the park on Wednesday.

According to the TRCA, the park will connectfour ravines, 15 parks and 34 neighbourhoods.

It will include 20 kilometres of mixed-use trail and be home to more than 1,000 species of flora and fauna.

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"TheMeadoway will be a catalyst for building a new kind of city park forCanada,"saidTamara Rebanks, chair of the conservation committee at the W. Garfield Weston Foundation.