{"id":169145,"date":"2025-09-25T20:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-25T20:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/169145\/"},"modified":"2025-09-25T20:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T20:55:11","slug":"ontario-opens-its-largest-publicly-funded-bike-park-in-oshawa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/169145\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario opens its largest publicly funded bike park in Oshawa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oshawa just wrapped construction on what appears to be Ontario\u2019s largest publicly funded bike park. A sprawling new facility inside Rose Valley Community Park stacks three asphalt pump tracks beside a rebuilt dirt-jump zone and a dedicated mountain bike flow and skills area. The city\u2019s grand opening is set for Oct. 4, but the place is already buzzing with kids, parents and everyone in between on bikes, boards and scooters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s honestly got to be Ontario\u2019s largest bike park. I\u2019m quite sure,\u201d says Chris Dewar, owner of Transitions Bike Parks<\/a>, who helped design the riding features and oversaw key construction milestones for the city. \u201cThe city of Oshawa really went all in and implemented this massive facility.\u201d<\/p>\n

What\u2019s there<\/p>\n

Dewar shared the area breakdown:
MTB flow line and skills area: 0.91 hectares (2.249 acres)
Asphalt pump tracks: 0.48 hectares (1.186 acres)
Dirt jump park: 0.35 hectares (0.865 acres)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s 4.300 acres of purpose-built riding space within a larger community park that also adds sports fields, trails, a playground, parking and a high-tech washroom facility. The full park project carries an estimated $9-million price tag.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Chris Dewar photo.
\nThree pump tracks, one accessible<\/p>\n

Oshawa\u2019s pump track offering covers the full spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have a wheelchair-accessible strider track, then you\u2019ve got a separate intermediate pump track and then you\u2019ve got a separate intermediate slash advanced pump track,\u201d says Dewar. \u201cSo there\u2019s three asphalt tracks there now.\u201d<\/p>\n

For riders who prefer dirt, the jump park spans beginner, intermediate and advanced lines.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought it back to life,\u201d says Dewar, describing Transition\u2019s late-July push to uncover, reshape, compact and re-water the lines after two years of site construction elsewhere in the park. The crew used SoilTac, re-established drainage and taught city staff basic upkeep. \u201cWe provided training to the city staff to show them how to keep everything groomed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flow laps and skills to spare<\/p>\n

Beyond jumps and pumping, there\u2019s a mellow flow circuit with corners, rollers and two options that keep laps moving. A separate skills park adds skinnies, armour-stone rock rides, small drops and bermed corners. Dewar calls it a \u201cwarm-up zone,\u201d but for newer riders it\u2019s a low-stress place to build confidence.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The unsanctioned Greenland dirt jumps. Chris Dewar photo.
\nFrom rogue jumps to a model project<\/p>\n

This story started the way a lot of good bike parks do: with unsanctioned dirt.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe background to the story is your classic BMXers building in the woodlot,\u201d says Dewar of the old Greenland spot, a hidden rhythm-line that eventually drew city attention. Instead of sending in the dozers and moving on, Oshawa engaged.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah we put a good report together on how to formalize and sanction the existing trails,\u201d recalls Dewar. \u201cFiling in the gaps, filling in excavation pits, making the sideslopes 2:1 for stability, cleaning up the overgrown vegetation, garbage etc. But the hidden location and difficult access that made the original spot feasible was ironically the reason that led to their removal by the city unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new location, as part of the Rose Valley Community Park probably makes more sense in the long run. And local advocacy helpe make it happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was pretty involved,\u201d says Dewar, crediting local rider Steven Lind for persistent advocacy. Council bought in, budgeted and phased the build. Phase one delivered the dirt jumps. Phase two brought the pump tracks, flow lines and the rest of the park amenities.<\/p>\n

How to make projects like this happen<\/p>\n

If there\u2019s a lesson for other towns, Dewar says it\u2019s political will.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key to getting these facilities developed is to get in the councillor\u2019s ear and senior parks department\u2019s ear and get an advocate on board,\u201d he says. \u201cThey put forward the motion to council to have these things budgeted for in the following year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once shovels hit dirt, municipal parks staff need support. Oshawa asked Transition to return this spring for another seasonal tune.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s specialized and you can\u2019t just have anyone doing it,\u201d says Dewar. \u201cA lot of it is staying on top of erosion and damage\u2026 cut the grass, keep it free of weeds, pick up garbage, then identify hazards and fix ruts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Grand opening, big picture<\/p>\n

For a city that started with a hidden jumpline in the trees, Rose Valley now sets a new benchmark for public riding space in Ontario.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oshawa just wrapped construction on what appears to be Ontario\u2019s largest publicly funded bike park. A sprawling new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,1700,82],"class_list":["post-169145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-mtb-features","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=169145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/169145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=169145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=169145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=169145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}