A group of residents has presented a petition with approximately 200 signatures to town council in the hopes of having Collingwood’s promenade waterfront walkway cleared all winter for four-season access.
Joan Latimer and Nancy Wansbrough made a delegation to the Development and Operations Committee on Oct. 22.
Latimer reminded the committee of the words used in the town’s economic development literature stating Collingwood provides a four-season lifestyle.
“People love this walkway,” said Latimer, who has a condo at 1 Shipyard Lane. “We’re convinced there has to be a way to keep this area safely walkable through the winter.”
Wansbrough said she moved to Shipyard Lane after living on Maple Street for years. She would also like to see the promenade plowed through the winter for pedestrian access.
“I think a sidewalk plow could go around there and go up the ramp [at Maple Street North],” she said, adding its a safety concern to leave the area without maintenance in the winter.
“There are so many different entrances to that area, people don’t know they’re not supposed to go in there,” she said.
Wansbrough said she liked walking the promenade and she liked seeing others enjoying the space and the view of Collingwood’s harbour.
The promenade stretches along the west side of Collingwood’s harbour between the condos on Shipyard Lane and the water. Bollards and chains line the length of extra-wide walkway until the corner where the walkway turns west and there are no barriers between the sidewalk and the bay. The promenade follows a ramp upwards to Maple Street North.
Coun. Kathy Jeffery, chair of the development and operations committee, said council had been “very interested” in the past in maintaining the promenade in the winter.
Director of Public Works Brian MacDonald told the committee and the presenters there were safety concerns over having a sidewalk plow on the promenade, particularly where there are no barriers to prevent the machine from slipping into the bay.
“Providing maintenance would be by hand with a walk-behind snowblower or something of that nature. That’s not something we have in our fleet,” said MacDonald.
The development and operations committee voted unanimously in favour of including winter maintenance for the promenade in budget deliberations, where council would receive more detailed information on costs for plowing that section of sidewalk/town trail.
The motion does not mean any decisions have been made, only that plowing the promenade will be part of the discussion during budget deliberation.
