Comment 59008

By Cityjoe (anonymous) | Posted February 01, 2011 at 10:51:15

Much ado about Ancaster's 'walkability' in the new Plan for development recently.

There are sidewalks on Wilson St. , both East & West, right in town than dead end, leaving the pedestrian stranded, & having to cross a very busy street.

Many of the side streets here have no sidewalks at all. In Winter the plows are often not in evidence until days after a heavy snow fall, & when they do show up, the don't go anywhere near the edges of the road. Pedestrians must navigate a very narrow street, often blocked by parked cars that force them out into traffic.

There are places where walkers are sharing the bike lane as a side walk. (not good for pedestrians or cyclists!) This occurs in the Wilson St. E area of Tiffany Falls Park, & areas to the East, near Kaustra Nurserys & the rinks, all the way to the end of Wilson St. E, when it becomes Main St. I had to call CH t.v. to find out what had happened. It was not reported in any media that I could find. (as usual.)

Would you not think that a popular park, a local rink, a bus round about connection, & a very lovely walking route would have some provisions for pedestrians to walk safely? I see many people walking alone or with their dogs on that route every morning, sharing a bike lane. Problems with vehicles speeding in excess of 100 km/hour (the speed limit there is 70 km/hour)create a daily hazard for pedestrians, bikes, other vehicles, & deer every day.

A pedestrian was hit there 2 weeks ago. She was walking on the road side, technically in the bike lane, which had not been cleared of snow, but she had no options. No sidewalk, & no level areas to walk except the bike lane/road side.

The traffic circles have made thing worse both for walkers, & traffic attempting to get onto Wilson St. Thank goodness for the traffic lights at main intersections, or there would be no respite at all. The traffic circles tend to obscure pedestrians because of the nature of the circle, & the trees planted in the centers will soon be big enough to obscure the sight lines for both pedestrians & vehicles entering the traffic circles.

I`d give Ancaster a Huge FAIL on pedestrian friendly, & the farther you walk from Town Center into areas that would seem to promote walking, the worse it gets!!

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