A proposal that was started as a result of a tragedy is now shining through.
The Grade 6 class from LTIS made their presentation to bring lights to Rotary Way at last Tuesday’s town council meeting and council is moving the project forward.
The class initiated the project in hopes of preventing another tragedy, like what happened to their classmate Lee Thunder. Thunder lost his life on Mar. 17 when he was struck by a vehicle while walking on the side of the highway.
In their presentation to council, it was noted that Thunder wasn’t the only one who used the road instead of the path.
“Even though some of the light from the road reaches the walkway, it is still dim, dull and does not cover the whole area. Because of this it can be a scary experience, especially for kids. When using the walkway it can also be difficult to see wildlife and other groups who are also using the path at the same time,” said a student.
Another student added, “Because of lack of lighting, maintenance and safety on the trail, one life has already been lost and this community has been devastated, but together we can the Rotary Way better and a bright place.”
Their teacher, Jeff Semenchuk, even walked along the path to see if it really was as bad as his students were saying.
“I felt pretty uncomfortable. It wasn’t dark, it was dull lighting and when I did meet somebody coming down, I did feel nervous,” he said.
“There is a nervous feeling there, because I know a lot of students have said that they do walk on the highway. The reason why is in case they do get in trouble down there, there’s no one that can see them.”
The presentation was very well received by council with councillor Joanne Peckham adding she didn’t know so many people walked on the highway instead of the path.
“I think you really opened the eyes of the community, because I don’t think many people knew that you guys are walking on the highway. That seemed to be a real shock to all of us. We didn’t know the severity of it,” she said.
Council were all for increasing the lighting on the path and improving it’s maintenance – especially in the “thaw/freeze” portion of the year.
Councillor Shelly Gurba made a motion to direct administration to investigate the costs surrounding the upgrades to the trail and to approach some of the town’s community partners – like the local service groups and the county – to have potential partnership on the project. The motion was passed unanimously.
According to chief administrative officer Josh Pyrcz, the other portion of the group’s presentation – asking for a plaque to memorialize Thunder – is already in motion.
“I can tell you that we have spoken to a couple people in the community already about a plaque administratively we’re moving that forward through council,” he said.
