Ted Berry
Dear editor:
In a recent report on council news in the Fort Frances Daily Bulletin (dated Feb. 3, 2011), a statement regarding sidewalks was attributed to Mr. Brown, who is the manager of the town’s Public Works department.
Apparently, on reporting to council on 2011 capital projects, it was stated that as part of the work on Third Street East between Portage Avenue and Mowat Avenue, the sidewalk on the north side would be totally removed.
Mr. Brown apparently stated “the Town has laid out in its Official Plan that it wants to gradually eliminate sidewalks on certain streets in the future, using the cost-savings to put in new sidewalks where there are currently none.”
I may stand to be corrected, but nowhere in the Official Plan (2010 draft) could I find such a statement.
If there is such a statement in the Official Plan, it would seem prudent to prepare a plan of future proposed sidewalk removals, prepared with the Planning Department involved, the Planning Committees, and with input from the property owners and citizens who will be impacted.
It is not a decision to be made by the Public Works department in isolation.
It should be remembered that the majority of the town’s sidewalks over the last 60-70 years have been constructed and paid for, in large part, by the property owners that abut the sidewalk and in part by the taxes paid from the citizens at large.
The following is an overview of what I have found in the town’s latest (2010) Official Plan regarding sidewalks:
Pedestrians
•A Safe, Convenient and Attractive System
Transportation facilities, including the construction of new roads and reconstruction of roads, shall include safe, convenient, and attractive pedestrian systems such as sidewalks, corner ramps, pedestrian signals, and appropriate lighting.
A continuous sidewalk/walkway system providing accessible, safe, convenient, and enjoyable walking for all users should be developed and maintained.
•Required New Sidewalks and Walkways
The Town will require that new subdivisions provide sidewalks and walkways, as per the Town’s municipal standards manual, as deemed appropriate.
Pedestrian crossing signals will be required at all signalized intersections.
•Reducing Walking Distances
Sidewalks, walkways, and trails shall be designed in a manner to reduce the walking distances between residential development and recreational/community facilities, schools, and commercial facilities.
This requirement shall be evaluated at a variety of scales.
•Sidewalk Requirements with the Right of Way
For new or reconstruction, sidewalks shall be provided as follows:
I. On both sides of arterial roads;
II. On both sides of collector roads; and
III. On at least one side of all local roads (except cul-de-sacs, unless the cul-de-sac can connect to a destination such as a school, park, etc., in which case the sidewalk will be required on the side of the street which provides the most direct pedestrian route to the destination).
•Sidewalks Servicing Certain Land Uses
Sidewalks are considered essential near transit stops, schools, community facilities, and institutions, and should be provided on both sides of the street.
•Upgrading Pedestrian Facilities
The Town will undertake a program of sidewalk reconstruction to upgrade existing walkways and to provide new walkways in established areas.
Upgrades to existing walkways and the construction of new walkways shall be safe, accessible, well-lighted, and have a relative degree of visibility.
Priority will be given to those areas adjacent to schools, community centres, and commercial areas.
•Location and Design of Elementary School Sites
Sidewalks are considered to be an integral design aspect, and will be required to link all school sites to adjacent neighbourhoods; bicycle lanes will be incorporated wherever feasible.
The 2010 Official Plan “Update Background Information” report by the consultant noted that the Town’s Active Transportation Plan of 2007 stated that one of our community strengths was that 7.5 percent of our population bike or walk to work (2001 Census, Statistics Canada).
It’s no doubt that the Town’s population is aging, and with that comes the need for a safe means of mobility (i.e., walking or motorized scooters which seem to be on the increase).
It would seem that the removal of sidewalks, unless absolutely necessary, is not the direction in which to head, if keeping with the Official Plan.
Before concluding, I would like to address a previous proposal for sidewalk removal—and not the Portage Avenue North sidewalk as that seems to have been resolved by protest.
Rather, it is the proposal to remove the sidewalks on the south side of Scott Street between the Abitibi woodyard and Colonization Road East (to the riverfront).
It appears the intent is to reconstruct that stretch of Scott Street, underground utilities, and the above ground highway (connecting link Ontario Highway) with a widening of the roadway and an elimination of the south side sidewalk.
Has anyone looked at the Official Plans for the past 25 years or so?
The plan has been to move the Highway from Scott Street and not to further entrench its continued existence as a Highway. If the Plan was to be followed, there would be no need to remove the sidewalk from Scott Street.
The 2010 Official Plan (Draft) states:
•Truck Traffic Management
IV. Traffic studies have indicated that a truck bypass along Eighth Street would be beneficial to the quality of life for the residents of Fort Frances; and
V. The Town of Fort Frances will implement a truck bypass along Eighth Street to reduce the truck traffic impact on the residential and downtown commercial areas of the Town.
One of the “conclusions” drawn by the consultants in their “Background Report to the Official Plan Update” states:
11.7 “Revisions to the major truck traffic routes are critical to the quality of life in the Town. A bypass with direct access to the AbitibiBowater mill is also required.”
It is important to have an Official Plan to guide the growth of our municipality, but it is equally important that at some point to implement those decisions made through public input and prudent planning.
Respectfully,
Ted Berry
Retired Municipal
Planner, Town
of Fort Frances
