BARRHEAD - Town of Barrhead councillors opted at their July 25 meeting to go without a sidewalk for the municipality's 53rd Avenue reconstruction project.
Council decided to go against a recommendation to resurface roughly 270 metres of the 53rd Avenue service road along and the associated gutters, curbs and sidewalk, opting against replacing the walkway at an estimated cost of $163,000.
It is worth noting that the old sidewalk would be replaced by topsoil and seeded.
Initially, the project, which council had already approved, encompassed revitalizing approximately 270 metres along the 53rd Avenue service road, including pulverizing and replacing the existing road surface with compact hot mix asphalt. The request for decision (RFD) in the public agenda package notes that $150,000 was set aside in the 2023 capital budget.
However, CAO Edward LeBlanc noted that after further investigation by public works, it was evident that the gutters and curbs also needed to be replaced.
As such, he said, they would need to increase the budget depending on how much council decided to change the project's scope.
LeBlanc added that it would make sense to replace the sidewalk simultaneously for a complete revitalization project.
He also noted if council did opt to replace it, they had the option to increase the width of the sidewalk from its current four feet to the more current accepted size of between five to six feet.
But he said if council did choose to go with a wider sidewalk, it would mean a narrower road.
LeBlanc said administration recommended replacing the sidewalk at its current width.
The cost of redoing the curbs and gutters and replacing the sidewalk at its current width would be just over $188,000.
LeBlanc noted that the previous council also discussed the possibility of not re-installing sidewalks when they've reached their lifespan, especially if they were part of larger road revitalization projects.
Mayor Dave McKenzie said he had done some research on what other communities are doing in terms of sidewalk widths, and he did not find a conclusive answer.
He added there are no specific requirements of sidewalk width requirements, and as such, the width of sidewalks varied from community to community and even in different neighbourhoods.
"The bottom line is that it is up to the municipality what style of sidewalk they want to put in," he said. "And there are a lot of factors to consider, from demographics of the neighbourhood to vehicle traffic on the roadway."
McKenzie added the complexity of the demographics of neighbourhoods change generationally.
"So by the time you are ready to replace a sidewalk, it is time to review what is needed in the neighbourhood," he said.
The one thing that was clear from his research is that four-foot sidewalks no longer meet pedestrian needs.
"When you factor in mobility scooters and walkers, people walking beside each other, kids on bikes, meeting fellow pedestrians coming from the opposite direction, the era of the four-foot sidewalk is over," he said, adding the norm is now between five or six feet.
McKenzie added he recently talked to a resident who lived in the 53rd Avenue neighbourhood, and he informally pitched the idea of not having a sidewalk.
After talking with others in his household, the resident replied that they would be fine without a sidewalk, admitting that they normally do not use the sidewalk, opting instead to walk on the street.
The resident also believed that the consensus of the other people in the neighbourhood was that they did not care if there was a sidewalk.
McKenzie also said he spent part of an afternoon observing the pedestrian traffic on the street, noting that most of the walkers he saw were youth who chose to use the median between the service road and the main avenue.
"I know (the previous council) talked about having a test case with a road without a sidewalk. Perhaps this is our chance to do that," he said, adding that widening the sidewalk on the service road isn't a feasible option.
Coun. Rod Klumph agreed, saying his preference was to remove the sidewalk on the service road along with others at the end of their lifespan.
He noted that he frequently uses the service road when he walks, and most of the time, he chooses to walk on the street because he feels it is safer, especially in the winter.
He noted that several residents on the service road do not do a diligent job of snow and ice removal from the sidewalk.
"There are long patches along that road that I would characterize the sidewalk as being difficult and even dangerous. It is safer to walk on the roadway," Klumph said.
He added that as a pedestrian, he considers the roadway safer than the sidewalk in most cases because it is level and does not go up and down due to driveway approaches or cracks in the sidewalk.
"For me, it would be easier if people started to get used to walking on the roadway and that speed limit be lowered to 30 or 40 km/h," Klumph said.
Coun. Dausen Kluin said as someone with mobility issues, he was more concerned about the height of curbs, adding they were often a hindrance to those using wheelchairs, walkers or scooters.
Public works director Brant Ross replied that when the town replaces curbs, they use the monolith, rounded design that is much lower than what they used to install.
Coun. Anthony Oswald said he had an issue with removing the sidewalk, stating the municipality had spent a lot of money installing a walkway on the east end of 53rd Avenue so that pedestrians had the option of using a sidewalk on the old Manola Highway from 43rd Street to 49th Street.
Klumph replied the cases were different, noting on the east end of Manola road, pedestrians, especially school children, were forced to walk on the "boulevard".
"There was nothing else for them to walk on. They were at the mercy of the weather as no one cleared that area (in the winter), or they had to go on Manola road if they lived on the north side," he said. "In that case, it benefited pedestrians."
Oswald argued the sidewalk on the 53rd Avenue service road was needed to link the walkways of the main avenue.
He also agreed with McKenzie that many people are opting to use the median of the service road as a walkway, suggesting the solution was to construct a sidewalk on the median.
McKenzie interjected that it isn't always necessary to link sidewalks together, noting in front of his residence, he has a sidewalk that goes nowhere.
"We have questionable sidewalks in our community, and just because we have one, it doesn't mean we have to link them," he said.
Coun. Don Smith asked if there would be any liability for the municipality if council chose not to replace the sidewalk and there was a pedestrian-vehicle accident.
LeBlanc said no but admitted that the municipality could still find itself the target of litigation.
"Whenever there is an accident, the first focus is the municipality because of the exceedingly high policy we carry," he said.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
