Archive

Council votes against constructing sidewalk on Faulkner

April 15, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

Following consultations with affected homeowners, Orangeville Council voted 6-1 in favour of not constructing a sidewalk on Faulkner Street at their Monday (April 12) meeting.

Out of the 25 houses that would be directly impacted by the proposed sidewalk, 18 sent comments to the Town and of those, 16 did not want the sidewalk, while two were in favour.

Former Orangeville councillor Sylvia Bradley brought forward a petition and made a plea to Council last November for a sidewalk to be constructed along Faulkner Street, due to safety concerns, and again made her case before Town Council at their April 12 meeting.

“We see the kids here and the older people and it’s a concern. We tell the kids to walk on the grass because it’s safer, but in the winter, they can’t walk on the grass because there’s six feet of snow on both sides,” said Bradley. “So now the kids are walking on the road, which is very dangerous, I can’t see how anybody would think that’s not a danger.”

She said anywhere from 10 to 30 pedestrians walk along the bend per hour and that number will likely increase when the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

“This an active community here, an active neighbourhood with the two schools, the arena, the daycare, sports fields, etc. and if we don’t need a sidewalk in this neighborhood, then I don’t think we need a sidewalk anywhere in this town,” said Bradley.

She added that all of the twists, turns, bends, and various elevations along Faulkner Street make it an even greater hazard and if nothing is done, it could create legal issues for the municipality down the road.

“I would suspect that there would be some liability issues going forward if Council does not do anything about this and I really don’t know who wants to sacrifice a child or a grandparent before something is done to remedy the problem here,” she charged.

Coun. Lisa Post, who made the motion to not build the sidewalk, said while she sympathizes with what Bradley brought forward, it was clear that a vast majority of the residents on Faulkner Street did not want a sidewalk in their neighbourhood.

Mayor Sandy Brown said in the past he had spoken with the principal of ODSS, Pat Hamilton, who said he’s received zero complaints from teachers or parents regarding safety issues in that area.

“This neighborhood has been in place for 60 or 70 years, there’s been no increase in traffic, there’s been no further development in that neighborhood, and most of the residents have said, no, they don’t wish to have this,” noted Brown.

Meanwhile, Coun. Grant Peters was the sole vote against Coun. Post’s motion to not build a sidewalk along Faulkner Street.

He supported constructing a 390 metre section of sidewalk commencing at the north driveway into ODSS and ending at the intersection of Northgate Drive and Forest Park Road. The projected cost was $166,000.

“There’s an example not too long ago on Matthew Street, where, as I recall, 95 or 100 per cent of the residents were against that sidewalk and it got put in anyway. It connects a neighborhood to the school and it didn’t have any safe pedestrian access, and this neighborhood is no different,” said Coun. Peters.

He noted that due to the Town’s policy on road reconstruction, a sidewalk will be going into the Faulkner Street neighbourhood at some point, when a road replacement takes place, so adding it now just speeds up the process.

Money was included in the 2021 budget to construct the Faulkner sidewalk, but due to responses received from property owners in the neighbourhood, the project will not move forward.

Readers Comments (0)