Listowel's Fall Walking Routine Is Being Rerouted, and the Dog Park Is Finally Getting Its Fence

If your usual walk crosses the Kin Trail bridge between Victoria Avenue South and Salisbury Avenue South, where are you walking this fall?

That stretch of trail has been closed since September 8. A few hundred metres west, behind the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex, the dog park that has been in the works since 2022 is finally heading toward a fence. Both projects change where Listowel walks this season. The town is also building them on different time horizons. The bridge is a permanent replacement. Access to the dog park is being planned as temporary, on the expectation that it may have to come out later.

The gap between Victoria and Salisbury

The Municipality of North Perth's notice on the Kin Trail Bridge Replacement gives the dates. Work began on September 8, 2026, and is scheduled to continue through December 2026. The municipality says engineering assessments found the old structure was deteriorating and urgently needed replacing. The project is funded in part through the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program.

While the work is underway, the affected section is closed to all users. That includes walkers, cyclists and anyone pushing a stroller. The notice asks people to use alternate routes and follow posted signage. It doesn't name a specific detour, so the signs on site are the reference point.

The new bridge will be a different kind of structure. The Listowel Banner reported on October 8 that crews were working on the bridge the week before. The old 33-metre wooden bridge is being replaced with a metal pedestrian bridge. Swapping wood for metal on a span that size is a long-term decision. The trail won't need this conversation again for many years.

The Kinsmen Trail is the town's spine route. North Perth's 2024 Transportation Master Plan describes it running from Tremaine Avenue South to Wallace Avenue North, just south of Line 87, with a jog at Elma Street West. A closed bridge partway along that line affects more than the people who live beside it. It breaks a through-route that crosses most of town.

Where the loop still closes

A walk with the Kin Trail cut in half still has options. North Perth's parks, pavilions and trails page describes a trail system of roughly 22 km. It runs from Gowanstown to Listowel and from Listowel to Henfryn. The page also links to the Perth County Hike and Bike digital map.

The closest full loop is the Rotary Walkway in Listowel Memorial Park. The municipality describes it as a complete, lit and accessible loop around the Maitland River. Of the options below, it's the only one the municipality describes as lit. That counts for more as the days shorten into November.

The trail lengths come from the 2024 master plan. Check the Perth County map for current conditions before setting out on the longer routes, especially the Listowel–Henfryn line.

Steve Kerr takes over when the weather turns

The bridge closure overlaps with the indoor track season. According to North Perth's facilities page, the walking track at the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. from October through March. In April and September it runs on shorter weekday hours, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The track has two lanes, and the municipality describes it as inclusive. Each lap is 722 feet, so 4.5 laps come to about a kilometre. A 5 km walk works out to about 22 laps. That's a lot of laps, but they're dry and flat in January.

The rules are short. The track closes on statutory holidays, and hours can change for private rentals or at the municipality's discretion. Children need supervision, and on-site signage covers the rest. Check the posted hours before planning a lunchtime walk.

The dog park plan also centres on Steve Kerr.

A dog park next door, with access planned as temporary

The Listowel dog park sits beside the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex and the Spinrite Soccer Field. The Listowel Banner's Kelsey Bent reported that it has been in the works since 2022, in a story republished by the St. Catharines Standard. The Banner reported that the Listowel Kinsmen submitted a letter of intent to contribute $50,000, according to a report from North Perth CAO Kris Snell. The money comes by way of borrowing from the municipality, is paid over five years, and includes naming rights.

According to the Banner, Snell told council what the money unlocks:

"That donation would allow the municipality and the committee to proceed with fencing the dog park, and in all intents and purposes, that will lead to a usable dog park in the very near future."

The Dog Park Committee is targeting fencing and signage installation for fall 2026. That's a target, not an opening date. The municipality's own dog park page still shows the project at its fundraising stage, with the design in progress.

The access question is where the two time horizons show up. In November 2025, council asked staff to look at building a gravel access road and parking area at the site. Snell's report priced a gravel road with on-site parking at $84,900. The report proposed an alternative: a one-metre-wide stone dust trail for temporary access, estimated at $5,000 to $10,000, with parking at the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex. That option would cost roughly a tenth of the road. Snell told council that staff wanted a more affordable temporary option, and he explained the timing behind it:

"When I say temporary, it's probably long-term temporary, just because we don't know when the West end development will happen, but we want to make something that's as accessible as possible, but yet realizing that whatever we do today may need to be removed or relocated in five to 10 years."

Snell had already told council that once the west end development gets going, any access built now would likely become redundant. The bridge a few hundred metres away was replaced in metal so it would last. Access to the dog park is being planned with removal in mind.

Mayor Todd Kasenberg said he had made the trek to the site himself and called it "a hefty walk." The Banner reported that he argued for a solid surface along the edge of the field, about sidewalk width, so people using assistive devices could reach the park from the Steve Kerr parking lot. Council passed the motion unanimously. It approves the $50,000 agreement with naming rights and directs staff to proceed with fencing. It also asks staff for a report on temporary accessible access, maintenance and operations for the 2027 budget. After the vote, Kasenberg asked, "Can I say hooray?"

Before the fence, the pop-ups

The committee has been bringing dogs to the site already. Midwestern Newspapers reported in July that the committee held its second pop-up event on July 7. These are temporary two-hour stop-ins behind the Steve Kerr Memorial Complex, off the Spinrite Field, and a photo caption in the coverage describes them as monthly. If you want to see the site before it's fenced, or before deciding whether the walk in suits an older dog, the pop-ups are the way to do it. Check with the committee for upcoming dates.

What's settled and what's still open

By the end of the year, two of these pieces should be in place. The Kin Trail bridge is scheduled to finish by December 2026, and the dog park fence is targeted for this fall. The Steve Kerr track runs on its winter hours either way.

Access to the park, its maintenance and day-to-day operations are still undecided. They go back to council in a report for the 2027 budget. Because no one knows when the west end development will happen, Snell told council that whatever access is built now may need to be removed or relocated in five to 10 years.

For more on the town, see our Listowel neighbourhood page. If you're weighing a property near the trails, Steve Kerr or the west end of town and want to know which nearby features are permanent and which are still in progress, The Gascho Group can go through it with you. Make Your Next Move With Confidence.