Howard Watson Nature Trail Exmouth Street crossing. October 1, 2018 Photo by Melanie IrwinHoward Watson Nature Trail Exmouth Street crossing. October 1, 2018 Photo by Melanie Irwin
Sarnia

Calls for increased safety measures at Exmouth Street trail crossing

City councillors are lobbying the Bluewater Trails Committee for increased safety measures at the Howard Watson Nature Trail crossing at Exmouth Street.

Councillor Mike Kelch, who serves as council's representative on the committee, shared Monday that new pedestrian crossovers will be installed at Wellington Street and Michigan Avenue next spring.

But, that left councillor Anne Marie Gillis wondering, what about Exmouth Street?

"That is a really difficult area for people to get across," said Gillis.

Her concern was raised on the same day that a four-year-old girl and her mother were struck by a vehicle, west of the nature trail, at a signalled crossing on Exmouth.

Councillor Kelch said he's well aware of the concern at the crossing, and he personally crosses it almost every day on his bicycle.

"There is an issue there," he said. "The Rapids Parkway extension is going to result likely in a stoplight on Exmouth, very close to where that crosses and as a committee, we want to spend the money where we know, right now, we can build this stuff."

Councillor Bev MacDougall called the crossing a liability and said she was scrambling to get across it last Friday.

"I literally had to get my bike off the curb and run my bike across that road to get up on the other curb and then get back on the trail," said MacDougall. "I appreciate what we're saying here about not throwing good money after bad when we know there's a solution coming down the pipe, but I would also say right now at certain times of the day -- and perhaps it was because I was there during the business part of the day -- it really was a treacherous crossing."

Gillis and MacDougall are encouraging the trail committee to explore a temporary solution.

The new crossings at Wellington and Michigan will be the same style as the one installed on Christina Street at Canatara Park.

Preliminary design work has also started on the extension of the Howard Watson Nature Trail to Lambton College, with construction anticipated some time in 2019.

The city received $590,000 through the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program to support the projects.

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