Grand Opening Of The G2G Rail Trail Blyth Tunnel Takes Place This Friday

by Bob Montgomery

The long-awaited grand opening of the G2G Rail Trail Blyth Tunnel will be held this Friday.

Project advocate Chris Lee says the grand opening of the Blyth Tunnel is in conjunction with the celebration of the improvements to the Blyth Trailhead by North Huron and coincides with the opening day of the annual Huron Pioneer Thresher & Hobby Association reunion. Lee says there was a rail tunnel under County Road 25 at one time. It was owned by the county and eventually deteriorated to the point that it needed some repairs and the county decided to decommision the tunnel. The county had to be involved in the restoration of the tunnel but it was funded by G2G, thanks to some generous organizations as well as private donors.

Lee says the purpose of the tunnel is to restore the underpass at Road 25 at Blyth to make it safe for people to follow the G2G Trail without having to cross County Road 25, which was a challenge for a lot of people and particularly people with accessibility issues. 

Lee says there was a lot of conversation before they finally got going with the project and that was when the RTO4 Tourism Organization put up some money to get the preliminary engineering done and turn it into a shovel-ready project. That was four or five years ago and the county matched those funds. Lee says things sometimes take longer than people would like and COVID was a factor in this case, but the tunnel was finished in July of this year.

The grand opening will take place from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM on Friday, September 6th at the Blyth Trail Head. Anyone wishing to join the celebration or donate to G2G Rail Trail for a chance to win a new e-bike can click here to register for the event and the draw.

Photo courtesy of G2G Rail Trail