Costly sidewalk awaits master plan

Rick Vanderlinde Innisfil Journal Nov 13, 2010
INNISFIL – Residents who signed a 623-name petition asking for a sidewalk from Lefroy to Alcona will have to wait to see if the expensive project makes next year’s budget.
Town staff have also suggested the ambitious project — estimated to cost as much as $3 million in 2005 — become part of an Innisfil-wide master transportation plan.
“The request for a sidewalk along the St. John’s Road/Maple Road/Ewart Street corridor
between Alcona and Lefroy is a project that needs to be considered in conjunction with the various other needs of the pedestrian and vehicular roadway system throughout the Town,” engineering manager Grant Shellswell wrote in a report.
For instance, a sidewalk from Sunnybrae Public School to Yonge Street in Stroud is one of the pedestrian projects that now has higher priority.
John Hurd, who ran for council, brought the petition to council in August, asking that the Lefroy-to-Alcona sidewalk be put back on the table.
Hurd said while the project was considered expensive in 2005, federal and provincial infrastructure funding may be available now.
“I thought I’d hear a lot of people say they were concerned about taxes going up,” Hurd said told the Journal at the time. “But it was actually the opposite. A lot of people said this was something they would actually pay more taxes for. I was a little shocked by that.”
Shellswell said the funding from higher levels of government are always pursued where possible.
“When funding programs are announced staff will review the criteria established for the program, complete and submit applications on behalf of the Town for projects that meet the funding program criteria,” he stated.
Hurd, who was not elected, gained the support of Ken Simpson, who was elected to Ward 3 in Alcona.
Hurd has suggested the project could be cheaper if an extended asphalt walkway were created along the road instead of traditional sidewalks with curbs.