Sidewalk approved for Burlington neighbourhood despite public opposition

Burlington City councillors have approved the construction of a sidewalk on one street and rejected the plan for two others despite public opposition to all three.

While last week residents of the Elizabeth Gardens community were hopeful that all proposed sidewalks would be kept out of their community following the results of a City committee meeting, today (Jan. 16), when the matter went before City council, they found some councillors had shifted their viewpoints.

After four hours of public delegations, discussion and narrow votes, councillors rejected sidewalks on Linwood Cres. and Maureen Crt., but decided to proceed with the installation on Bromley Rd.

In the end, councillors accepted a staff report that said a sidewalk on the south side of Bromley is warranted based on growing pedestrian traffic and the need to accommodate access to parks, schools, community centres and transit.

“The proposed sidewalk infill achieves the goal of creating a completed pedestrian network and provides safe and convenient access to pedestrian generators,” reads a report that was presented earlier to councillors from the City’s Transportation Services Department.

A petition that was given to councillors showed that 40 of 43 homeowners on Bromley are opposed to the sidewalk that will now go in on the south side of the street from Linwood to Kenwood Ave. Several members of the public also appeared before councillors today to express their disapproval of the plan.

Ward 5 Councillor Paul Sharman, who has supported the homeowners throughout the process, later tried to exempt the west end of Bromley from the sidewalk but that motion was defeated.

The plan is to install the sidewalk on Bromley without the removal of trees and to have minimal impact on residential frontages. Instead, the sidewalk will be accommodated by narrowing the road which will mean that in the future, parking will be allowed on only one side of the street.

A public open house is scheduled for Jan. 31 to update the residents on sidewalk and other components of upcoming road reconstruction and infrastructure replacement in the area.