The Before & After Concept Photo Of How George Street Could Look Between Sherbrooke & Perry Streets

The City of Peterborough is undertaking a project to improve George Street from between Sherbrooke and Perry Streets. The photos below show the present structure, followed by the proposed changes which would include a turning lane, pedestrian islands and a cycling lane.

Attend the public meeting on Thursday, March 7th, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Transit Terminal Training Room (190 Simcoe Street) to provide information and receive input from the public.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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PtboPics & Coverage: Peterborough Cycling Club 2013 Open House

The Peterborough Cycling Club held their 2013 Open House Saturday night (February 23rd) at Wild Rock Outfitters.​ Roller racing was the hit of the night, provided by the West of Quebec Wheelers.

There were four fixed gear bicycles on rollers that were hooked up to a mechanical score board to show the racer's progress. As the evening progressed, the bracket of competitors were whittled down to the Final Four men and women.

Do Levis commuter jeans help you win? How about galoshes? Does beating a Wild Rock owner net you a 20%-off discount? Head over to the Peterborough Cycling Club website to hopefully learn these answers and more about the club.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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PtboPics: Canadian Canoe Museum At The Toronto Outdoor Adventure Show

The Canadian Canoe Museum is showing some Peterborough pride at the Outdoor Adventure Show in Toronto this weekend. Be sure to check out their artisan workshops as well.

You can see their booth on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., or Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Help Shape Where Cyclists, Skateboarders, Longboarders, In-line Skaters & E-Bikes Can Ride In City

The second public consultation of the Active Transportation By-Law Review is Wednesday night (January 30th) at the Peterborough Public Library (7 p.m. to 9 p.m.). Three By-Laws are being reviewed and you can submit your input in hard copy or online before February 15th.

A total of 196 surveys were submitted from the November 1st review meeting, and now there is this second opportunity to help shape where cyclists, skateboarders, longboarders, in-line skaters and e-Bikes can ride.

You can download the .PDF of the updated changes from The City of Peterborough.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Canadian Canoe Museum Hosting Free Open House This Sunday

The Canadian Canoe Museum is having an open house this Sunday (January 13th) from noon until 5 p.m.

Come visit the museum and explore the exhibits for free. The Peterborough Model Railroaders and the Lindsay & Region Model Railroaders will also be there.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Evan Holt]

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Trans-Canada Trail Construction Begins At The CPR Bridge

Here's the media release from City Hall...

Work on Trans-Canada Trail Construction at the CPR Bridge is scheduled to commence during the first week of January, 2013.
Innovative Civil Constructors Inc. (the “contactor”) will begin by fencing off the construction staging area on the top of the east bank of the Otonabee River, immediately north of the CPR Bridge. Pedestrian traffic will be redirected around the compound throughout the construction period.
As the work involves the construction of a temporary access road within the river, there will be considerable construction traffic on Maria Street in order to access the work site. People should exercise caution when travelling in the area. Unfortunately, some residents may be inconvenienced while trucks are delivering the fill material and again in March, when the fill will be taken away.
A construction staging area will also be established on top of the west bank of the river immediately north of the CPR Bridge. Otonabee River Trail users will be redirected around the compound throughout the construction period. A small length of temporary construction access road will be constructed in the river from the west bank. Trail users must exercise caution during periods when construction traffic is high and when crossing the CPR tracks.
The temporary construction access roads in the river are necessary to access the various work sites along the CPR Bridge. All the requisite environmental approvals and permits are in place. After the in-water work is complete, the access roads in the river will be removed, and the fill material will be trucked away. The removal of the access roads is scheduled to take place before the end of March, 2013.
Subsequent to the completion of the work on the bridge piers, repair work on the CPR Bridge will continue and the new three-metre-wide Trans-Canada Trail Bridge will be installed. Completion of the entire project is scheduled for the end of May, 2013.
The Canadian Pacific Railway advises that public use of the bridge is prohibited until such time as the Trans-Canada Trail on the bridge is complete and open for travel.
The City of Peterborough advises that the CPR Bridge and the contractor’s staging areas are construction zones and access to these areas is prohibited.
The City of Peterborough regrets the inconvenience to the public and area businesses through the construction of this important project and appreciates their patience and understanding. Any inquiries may be directed to the Planning Division, City Hall at 705- 742-7777 extension 1880.
This information is also available on the City of Peterborough website www.peterborough.ca.

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61 Awesome Things About Peterborough In 2012

There was so much awesome about this city this year. In no particular order really, here's 61 of them (we had to cut if off somewhere)...

1. Peterborough Lakers winning the Mann Cup. Best in Canada baby!

2. Red Pashminas, which empower women locally and globally.

3. Trent's LipDub video, a great showcase for the university.

4. Doug Tilley's comedy, whether it's his "singing" or tweeting or... what's next Tilley?

5. Bandwagon episodes. Now in its 2nd season, which launched with Sloan.

6. Wild Rock celebrating 20 years in the downtown. And making the decision to stay in the downtown when they could have moved.

7. PMZ, Peterborough's TMZ celebrating local "celebrities".

8. I'd Rather Be In Peterborough tees. Community spirit.

9. Spanky's annual ping pong tourney for Movember. Spanky's offering a place to play ping pong in town.

"Call Me Maybe" 10. The city rallying behind a teenager's right to play basketball on his own driveway.

11. Philanthropy month in Peterborough showcasing all the people doing good in the community. #bethechangeptbo

12. The new downtown nightclub ARIA, which rivals Toronto's finest.

13. St. Peter's high school students dressing as superheroes during Head of the Trent regatta.

14. Peterborough Cycling Summit. Bike this city. Let's make it as bike friendly as possible.

15. Elton John concert, the one where he actually played Peterborough—not his cancelled one.

GPA EDC's Dan Taylor at Creative Cocktail16. The Peterborough Calendar Girls naked truth campaign raising awareness about the affordable housing shortage here.

17. Breakfast Television broadcasting live from Peterborough. Great coup for our city.

18. Carrie Underwood and Mike Fisher at Gerti's. (We don't believe they had the polo sandwich, but it's excellent.)

19. Carly Rae Jepsen at Musicfest. Peterborough singing "Call Me Maybe".

20. Final photo of PCVS students and staff together. This city will never forget the impact this school had, and its legacy.

21. A canoe portage in downtown Peterborough.

22. The Taste of Downtown. So much great food down there. And great folk.

23. The Dragon Boat festival.

24. The Hootenanny on Hunter. It's a hoot.Mike Watt

25. The Gilmour Street Garage Sale. Epic as always.

26. Hunter Street, one of the best streets anywhere for food, drink, shops, live music, theatre, festivals, hot dogs, great vibe.

Rick Mercer at PCVS27. Maryam's Monsef's story about how a city and school saved her life.

28. Peterborough dog pictures.

29. Rick Mercer's Rant on PCVS.

30. Rick Mercer's visit to PCVS, in video and pictures.

31. Noah Leslie—aka @pennyboynoah, who raises money for the Salvation Army Toy Drive each year.

32. Pete Dalliday's unbelievable shot. Believe it.

33. Someone canoeing on a Peterborough street. Canoe Peterborough.

34. Koski.

35. The PeterTweeter awards. Twitter's where it's at. Amazing Twitter community in town. (Follow us here.)

36. Mike Watt's how-to plaid video. Hilarious.

37. Creative Cocktails—here's the one from Market Hall.

St. Peter's superheroes38. Jonny Trash DJing at Spanky's. Best DJ around.

39. The Peterborough web series Grimwell.

40. Petes Insider, giving us the inside goods on the Petes organization.

41. The excellent Canadian Canoe Museum. We're lucky to have it. And let's move it downtown by the waterfront.

42. Electric City Live, which covers the local music scene in Peterborough. Great name, great site.

43. The Art School of Peterborough. Creativity. Imagination.

44. Mike Judson, who went homeless on the streets of Peterborough for 48 hours to raise awareness about the problem here.

Silver Bean45. Peterborough Police for serving and protecting this community, and embracing social media by joining Twitter this year.

46. Rachel Seaman and Ashley Brzozowicz, who competed in the Olympics this summer (Ashley won a silver in her sport, rowing). The tees

47. Downtown Peterborough. Embrace it. Vital. Make it sustainable. Build a city from its core.

48. Silver Bean Café, beauty spot on the river.

49. Our friends at The Wolf and Kruz FM, huge supporters of Peterborough and us. And the always smiling Carol Edwards there, who lets us in through the out door.

50. Three Loonies, for Kawartha Food Share.

51. The return of the Wire Awards. Special night at Market Hall putting spotlight on amazing music scene in Peterborough—one of the best anywhere in Canada.

52. Gallery in the truck. A moving gallery. Great concept. Love it.

53. PtboFinds and PtboProps.

54. Kawartha Turtle Trauma Centre.

55. The DBIA's new website by BrandHealth. Excellent.

56. Lois Tuffin, the news diva of Peterborough and the Kawarthas. Never shy about expressing her opinion.

57. Fleming's Student Volunteering Club, students with a sense of community pride.

58. Funny hashtags. E.g. 6,000 people went without power for a couple hours, and #ptboblackout began trending on Twitter in Peterborough. Sample tweet: "I wonder how many babies will be conceived during this blackout #ptboblackout" 

59. John Leacy's mural art around town. Gabby's wall, Spanky's wall and more.

60. Natas Cafe, the epicentre for Peterborough's amazing people.

61. All our readers and followers on Twitter and Facebook. You rock.

Here's to a great 2013!

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You Have 2 Hours Free Parking During Holiday Season Downtown

Thanks to the DBIA and the City of Peterborough, our little annual holiday treat of 2 hours of free parking is now in effect downtown. Any money that is put in the meters will be donated to local charities. Be sure to shop local this holiday season in our amazing downtown.

[Contributed by PtboCanada's Julie Morris]

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Why Moving The Canadian Canoe Museum To A Waterfront Location Downtown Would Rock

The Canadian Canoe Museum announced today (November 21st) that a feasibility study is being undertaken starting in January to determine in part what it would take to move to a waterfront location downtown from their current location for the past 15 years at 910 Monaghan Road.

It's never made much sense to be where it is (more than one person has remarked as such), and moving this excellent museum right down by the water in the core of Peterborough seems like an entirely logical thing to do. It would drive many more tourists and cottagers—and even locals—into the downtown area to visit the museum.

Imagine touring the Canoe Museum, then stepping outside it and going canoeing and kayaking on the Otonabee River and Little Lake. And afterwards, tourists and the like can eat and shop and take in some theatre downtown. Brilliant.

"During the years that we've been operating on Monaghan Road, it has become apparent to us that we will need to redevelop the Museum in order to achieve these goals, and so we are commissioning a feasibility study as the first step," says the museum's director James Raffan in a PR release.

Funding for the study comes from private donors and a grant from the Peterborough Community Futures Development Corporation.

Where do you think a great place for a new site would be for construction of a facility near the downtown?

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