K&P Trail on Google Streetview

Jemma Dooreleyers | Jul 03, 2024

If you see (or have seen) Frontenac County’s 2024 Ford Maverick rolling down a portion of the K&P Trail, have no fear. It is not a wayward county employee taking a shortcut to Sharbot Lake or ticketing cyclists exceeding the speed limit, it’s just Joseph Cocchetto, Frontenac County’s summer intern, doing his summer job: capturing 360 images of Frontenac County’s entire portion of the K&P Trail so that it can be uploaded to Google Street View.

I joined Cocchetto on a ride-along while he captured images of the portion of the K&P Trail between the Sharbot Lake and Clarendon Station

The journey began at the McIvor Road trailhead, but once Cocchetto observed that although the gates of the trailhead are supposed to have a code lock, McIvor Road’s trailhead was “padlocked for some reason” and Cocchetto did not have a key. So, instead, we journeyed North up the 38 to Sharbot Lake as it was the next location on Joseph’s to-do list.

Cocchetto graduated from the Geography program at Queen’s in 2023. He is from the GTA for school but is falling in love with the Kingston Frontenac area, especially after getting to cover so much ground with this initiative and he thinks “it’s really cool” he gets to drive Frontenac County’s new truck (originally this initiative was supposed to be completed from the County’s Smart Car but after all of the rain this summer, the County decided it was safer to allow Cocchetto the use of the truck and not have to send out a rescue mission to get the Smart Car out of the mud). He answered some of my questions about the initiative.

(Jemma Dooreleyers questions in bold, and Joseph Cochetto answers in regular font)

What is Google Street View?

Google Streetview is typically what shows up when a location is searched on Google Maps. Photos can be clicked through to determine where an entrance is or what the parking situation looks like. Google Street View is not only helpful for people who like to plan, sometimes it is crucial for people who use accessibility devices like wheelchairs and canes to determine whether or not they can access a building or experience or in the K&P Trail’s case, how long they can access the trail on the battery life of their accessibility device.

Why isn’t the K&P Trail on Google Street View already?

Google Street View uploading was originally reserved for people employed by Google whose entire job it was to drive around, well, everywhere with a 360-camera strapped to the roof of their car and take images and upload them to Google. These Google employees could not get everywhere (like the K&P Trail) due to driving restrictions and trespassing laws, so as 360 camera technology has become more accessible for the average person, Google has opened up a way to upload images to Google Street View on their platform.

Why is Frontenac County doing this now and whose idea was it?

I’ll let Richard Allen, K&P Trail manager, answer that question:

Richard Allen (via email) – “The idea actually started while consulting with a trail management organization from Ireland which had mentioned that 360 videos were high in demand in the accessibility community as a research tool. People with mobility challenges or who use the trail id appropriate for their abilities and equipment. We thought it was a great idea at the County and began to plan for the project”

The County brought this idea to the Accessibility Committee on May 21st and after a great reception, they began to plan.

“This is a way to improve trip planning for people of all abilities. With this tool, trail visitors can manage their expectations for trail surface conditions. communities they are visiting and get a sense if what the experience might be like before their adventure,” said Allen

How does it work?

A 360 Camera (which can cost anywhere between $50 to $800), gets secured to the roof of the truck. The 360 camera is attached to an app. The camera captures the 360 video. I upload the video to Google Street View's software, the software creates the Streetview and voila, a week later, you can find the portion of the trail on Google Street View.

How long will it take?

Not as long as you think. I have been working on this initiative steadily since the beginning of June and since I only have access to Frontenac County’s portion of the K&P Trail (which is a total of 90 KM starting at the border of Kingston and Frontenac Township and ends at Clarendon Station) the trail becomes a little bit more difficult to maneuver in a full-sized truck after Clarendon station, I’ve been “trucking” along pretty well.

Currently the portions of the K&P Trail between Verona, Godfrey and now Sharbot Lake and Clarendon Station can all be found on Google Street View.

How does it feel knowing that you are the person immortalizing the Frontenac County Portion of the K&P Trail on Google Street View?

Although I am certainly not the only person involved with this initiative, it is pretty awesome to see my work on Google Street View and knowing that this work will help people access the trail no matter their abilities and needs.

Once we reached Sharbot Lake’s trailhead, Cocchetto secured the camera to the roof of the truck and off we went, at 20 KM/hour.

We went off without a hitch, apart from maybe a couple of looks from pedestrians but Joseph made sure to pull over and roll down the windows of the truck every time we encountered someone in case they had questions he could answer. It’s Deer Fly season, so we picked up a couple of buzzing passengers along the way. Aside from a moment where we were unsure if the truck was going to fit through the Large Culvert that runs under Hwy. 7 3km north of the Sharbot Lake trailhead (we retracted the camera and folded in the side mirrors and I got out of the truck to guide Cocchetto through and ensure that the Maverick came out unscathed) rolling down the K&P Trail was quite peaceful. While the truck was a nice shield from the Deer Flies, as an avid South Frontenac K&P Trail user, I think walking and cycling are still my favourite ways to traverse it.

The journey between Sharbot Lake and Clarendon took about an hour and left a lot of space for pondering. As we rolled through the familiar woods and wetlands, I wondered how the people who built the original K&P railroad and utilized it for their daily commute over 100 years ago would feel about how the railbed has changed and developed. I also wondered how they would react to the knowledge that there is a camera that is able to film a 360 image and then somehow that image can make it to anyone’s fingertips for free so that they can plan their trip accordingly.

I’m not sure, but it’s Happy Trails knowing that people will feel much more confident accessing the trail because of this initiative.