A trio of local boat launches are set for four significant upgrades following a recent decision by Bracebridge town councilors.
During the most recent Bracebridge General committee meeting councillors agreed to pay Galcon Marine up to $628,000 for repairs to the boat launches on Pine Lake, Clear Lake and Wood Lake
Councillor Barb McMurray was very pleased to hear the news. She said there were significant safety issues with all of the launches being repaired and it was an issue she had been pushing for at the council table for nearly a decade.
The Pine Lake Boat Launch is located at 3150 Fraserburg Road. According to a staff report, the shallow water depth at the launch requires users to back up far into the lake in order to launch or retrieve their boats, causing vehicles to repeatedly become stuck in the soft lake bottom. Additionally, ice movement on the lake has compromised the dock structure, and the driveway and turnaround area is poorly drained and overgrown with brush.
The Clear Lake Boat Launch is located between 1130 and 1131 Clear Lake Road. Similar to the
Pine Lake Boat Launch, vehicles become stuck in the soft lake bottom because the shallow water depth at the launch requires users to back up far into the lake in order to launch or retrieve their boats. Large boulders in the shallow lake bottom at the launch area are also a hazard to boaters.
The Wood Lake Boat Launch is located between 1034 and 1036 Fox Point Road. The existing concrete launch ramp is too short for the larger boats. When larger trailers are sufficiently backed up in the lake to launch or retrieve a boat, the trailer wheels extend beyond the concrete ramp and become stuck in the soft lake bottom, often requiring the assistance of a tow truck. Also, staff said the driveway and turnaround area is poorly graded causing erosion of the granular surface into Wood Lake.
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