New Track Being Built - Discussion | GTAMotorcycle.com

New Track Being Built - Discussion

Sebi

Don't call me Shirley
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So it seems they are wanting to open Spring of 2020 up near Kawartha lakes. I think they were marked as area 49 before and now changed names to Raven Race Resort. They seem to target the upscale and focus on a more luxurious experience; what are your thoughts on them?

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* Note this drawing is apparently a sketch and not the final layout. Or at least I hope its not the final layout... If your brakes fail on the straight, good luck.
 
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If you have $25,000 you can get your membership at the early bird price ...
A buddy of mine mentioned it looks similar to a previous kickstarter "scam" where they collected money and ran. It's too early to make any judgment on it at this point but the website does seem to offer very little information to warrant spending anywhere close to that money.
 
I read part of a massive thread on fakcbook about it. John Bickle read the guy the riot act. Long story short, don't build something that is unsafe and then try and make it safe after. Do it right the in the beginning, while you have a chance.

Yes, there have been a number of kickstarter scams. Look at the supposed "Fort Erie Racetrack, designed by Jeff Gordon", we are still waiting for that one. Meanwhile, another group bought the existing Cayuga oval and renovated it, racing there for 2 seasons already. Don't be surprised if they build a road course there either.
 
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I found the location on google maps. The little dirt "track" at the bottom left of the photo, whatever it is, is existing - it's at the corner of Portage Rd (48) and Blanchard Rd. Turn the sketch about 180 degrees to get a rough idea of north-south. The whole property top to bottom scales to about 600 metres. There isn't much left for run-off, or noise abatement, or separation between opposite-direction sections of track.

My niece lives 5 or 6 km from there, on a farm property, I can fit their farm and the proposed location pretty easily on the same screen on google maps. There's an existing rural-residental properties a couple hundred metres north from the proposed location and one directly across Portage Road (visible on sketch). On the plus side, Halton Crushed Stone gravel pit is next door (probably on the same property) so there might be existing noise-abatement because of the gravel pit.

Initial opinion is "never gonna happen", and certainly not in the proposed time frame. The layout needs work to make it safe. If John Bickle is on the case, that's a good sign. If it does happen, being able to have home cooked meals and being able to stay in an actual house do sound attractive ...
 
Potential redevelopment of this go-kart track again? This idea has been kicking around for years. On noise alone I doubt they will ever be able to get approval yet alone all of the other issues.
Halton Crushed Stone does not appear to have any current environmental compliance approval. Even if it did, typical mitigation for the pit would do very little to help the track.
The whole block where the track sits is severed into lots (it looks like the track has part of lots 3 to 5). As a first cut, noise mitigation would be expected surrounding the entire proposed facility and even then there would be exceedances and complaints as they have almost zero setback to existing receptors.
Much of the track land is marked as marshland. That does nothing to speed up the approval.
I wish them the best, but I think they would be much better served spending the considerable money required on a larger parcel of land so the have some distance to the neighbours.
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Grand Opening Spring 2020???. Ha. If they had all their approvals in place already, I doubt they could hit that date. As it stands, I wouldn't expect them to get approvals before Spring 2021 and be built by Fall 2022 at the earliest.
 
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Look dangerous as it stands no where to go but on a live road or to a different part of the track. Probably neber going to happen.

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Look dangerous as it stands no where to go but on a live road or to a different part of the track. Probably neber going to happen.

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I think a past iteration of the plans for that site was an approved motocross track. It seems like someone owns the land and really wants to develop it into something motorsports related but they don't have the site for it to actually happen ( e-sports racing is a better fit, but I don't know if that is commercially viable).
 
For the price of this parcel, and all the development required, not to mention the challenges of environmental and other regs, wouldn't they be better off buying Shannonville and doing some upgrades and nearby offsite accommodations, etc? The drive from the GTA isn't much different, and possibly more attractive to eastern cities. Belleville is close to Shannonville, and has a casino for entertainment (along with some questionable nightlife - lol). Why start from scratch when there's an option available that could be open today, while you continue to build out the "resort".
 
That's a fair point, Shannonville could be bought and fixed for less than this could be built from scratch, and it is already permitted and already is an operating business.
 
For the price of this parcel, and all the development required, not to mention the challenges of environmental and other regs, wouldn't they be better off buying Shannonville and doing some upgrades and nearby offsite accommodations, etc? The drive from the GTA isn't much different, and possibly more attractive to eastern cities. Belleville is close to Shannonville, and has a casino for entertainment (along with some questionable nightlife - lol). Why start from scratch when there's an option available that could be open today, while you continue to build out the "resort".

don't quote me, but the rumor mill seems to indicate Shannonville is tentatively sold, pending some final negotiations
 
I've heard the same rumour, but zero details. Hopefully it's to someone that can fix it up.
 
I still have a pre-paid track day from Shannonville left over from last season. If it’s sold, I guess that’s useless....


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Same here. Hopefully the new owner allows this to be paid forward.
The pre paid track days that is.
And I agree. Better to make Shannonville into a better facility.
Let's hope!!
 
Shannonville was an easy build, the entire property is constructed on flat limestone on an indian reserve, you can build a road bed just by scraping off 7 inches of marl and it's perfect concrete bedrock, same reason Goodyear built in Napanee, it's geologically stable. Kawartha Lakes farm land would be one big frost heave to build a hardtop track surface on imho bad investment.
 
I still have a pre-paid track day from Shannonville left over from last season. If it’s sold, I guess that’s useless....


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There are still Shannonville trackdays listed on almost every trackday organizer's website. Every single trackday should be honoured.
 
Shannonville was an easy build, the entire property is constructed on flat limestone on an indian reserve, you can build a road bed just by scraping off 7 inches of marl and it's perfect concrete bedrock, same reason Goodyear built in Napanee, it's geologically stable. Kawartha Lakes farm land would be one big frost heave to build a hardtop track surface on imho bad investment.

Interesting....
 

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