Council will tap into its Gas Tax Reserve Fund to add close to $100,000 to the budget to rehabilitate a narrow and little-used walkway connecting Kenley Lane and Summer Place in West Galt.
Coming in at 87 per cent over budget already, the option to improve the stairs, shore up a retaining wall and add lighting to the walkway at the low-bid cost of $224,105 prompted a lengthy discussion about the city’s responsibilities in terms of making its amenities more accessible.
Staff recommended scrapping the plan for rehabilitation entirely and instead allow it to “naturalize” at a cost of about $90,000.
That would have meant the city would have ripped up the asphalt and removed the stairs on the walkway that serves an average of 24 users on weekdays and 20 users on weekends.
Instead, council voted 6-3 in favour of rehabilitation.
The decision came after some councillors suggested “doing it right” was the only way to go.
That could only happen by expropriating adjacent land to create switchbacks for ramps, something many councillors agreed should be the standard going forward on these types of city projects, despite the added costs.
Staff didn’t bother investigating that option because, as Coun. Pam Wolf said, it would be next to impossible to do with houses on either side.
“You can make anything accessible if you put the effort into it, but it’s going to be expensive,” countered Coun. Mike Devine. “We have to think about that. How lucky we are to be able bodied. We have to look at these issues in a much more serious manner than we have been in the past.”
Coun. Mike Mann agreed, saying he won’t support the motion because it’s not making the trail accessible for everyone. “If we’re going to do it, let’s do it right,” he said.
“I have some real concerns about spending money on this walkway,” Coun. Shannon Adshade added.
But Coun. Scott Hamilton said he thinks the walkway is worthy of the investment because of the increase in users coming to the city’s west side, many of them potentially using the walkway to access grocery stores, schools and other services in the area.
“I have a problem when we close things that have been used for a long time because we don’t want to put the money into the maintenance or the operation because we’ve been lax and not kept them up,” offered Coun. Jan Liggett
Coun. Donna Reid said it’s not always feasible to make every amenity available to those with disabilities, this being one of them because of the slope and cost.
Most of the trail is stairs, dropping about 11 metres from top to bottom.
“This has gone to the accessibility committee and they understand this,” Wolf said.
The connection serves a small area with alternative routes and paths of travel nearby with relatively minor variance in walking time, said a staff report to council.
Based on information from Student Transportation Services Waterloo Region there are currently 16 Highland Public School students and seven Southwood Secondary School students who are classified under the “walk zone” for the school catchment areas.
While these students are within the “walk zone”, they don’t necessarily require the walkway for school travel purposes, the report says.
