Not all sections of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail are off-road. The route is designated with existing infrastructure in place with the goal of future improvements, including a legacy goal of a completely off-road trail, as close to the water's edge as ecologically feasible. There is an effort by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust, the charity leading the partnership of communities the Trail connects, to expand and improve the route. Their partnership with local, regional, and Provincial governments has yielded several successes, including the Ministry of Transportation's addition of paved shoulders on roughly 50km of Highway 17 between Sault Ste Marie and Greater Sudbury, where the route could use no other roads.