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Students, parents and younger children crossing at Catherine and
Wellington Streets during peak after school time Two concerned
parents, Mareen Rimm and Joanna Alpajaro, are concerned about the winter
safety of their children.
"In Port Elgin, busing has changed and there is no opportunity to have
paid private busing anymore," said Rimm, "so now there are more children
having to walk to and from school. We've identified four areas as more
hazardous ... Wellington Street from River Street to Skateboard Park,
Bruce Street, Queensbush Road that has a pavilion in the middle and
Louis Street from Queensbush to Wellington."
Rimm raised the issue that Bruce Street is now being used as an arterial
through town by those drivers who don't want to deal with the traffic on
the main Goderich Street. "We have a petition signed by 200 people so
far," she added.
While some people think that it is up to the homeowner to clear the
sidewalk in front of their residence, there is no by-law that mandate
it. "This is a very difficult thing to do in this area as there are so
many summer residents who aren't here in the winter," explained Bill
Jones, Director of public works. "We also don't have the extra manpower
or equipment to keep every sidewalk cleared. Currently, we clear 19km of
sidewalks in Port Elgin and 10km in Southampton, primarily in the
downtown cores."
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Jones added that the town will be ensuring however, that
Joseph Street is cleared for those school children walking
to Northport Elementary and also Catherin Street to
Wellington, where there is a crossing guard for those
students walking to Saugeen Central Public School.
Councillor Victoria Serda commended the parents for coming
forward. "As Bill said, the main concern for staff is that
we would require extra staff and equipment. Normally,
something like this would come forward for budget in the
fall so we may be able to raise this again [at a later date]
as we want to make this a pedestrian safe community."
"We just want to ensure that sidewalks are safe for all ages
in the winter," added Rimm. "We encourage everyone to get
out and be active but, in the winter, there are areas where
it's unsafe to walk."
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