FERGUS – Centre Wellington council voted unanimously in favour of installing separated bike lanes on St. David Street North in Fergus once infrastructure work there is complete, but that doesn’t mean the community has given its full support, says a Fergus resident.
Ed O’Shaughnessy has collected almost 500 signatures on a petition from residents opposed to council’s decision and who hope they can convince councillors to give that decision a re-think.
“I’ve been following with interest the re-shaping of St. David Street and participated in the survey,” O’Shaughnessy said in a phone interview. “I was quite shocked at the June 21 meeting when council elected to go with the bike lane option. It was the least popular option.”
O’Shaughnessy said while he follows local politics, he doesn’t often get involved.
“Highway 6 is a major throughway, and this didn’t seem the best way,” he said. “It’s not something I normally would do but I started the petition.”
St. David Street North from St. Andrew Street to Edinburgh Avenue is slated for watermain and sewer main replacement in 2023 affording the opportunity to change the streetscape when the road is reassembled.
There was public consultation on the matter and at the May 17 committee of the whole meeting, staff reported the results:
– 41.6 per cent of respondent preferred option 1- to keep the road as is;
– 10.8% preferred option 2 – to remove on-street parking and add wider sidewalks and boulevards;
– 27.6% preferred option 3 – to keep on-street parking from St. Andrew Street to Patrick Street and widen lanes, boulevards and sidewalks further north; and
– 15.6% preferred option 4 – to remove on-street parking on the east side of St. David Street and install separated bike lanes.
Given those results, O’Shaughnessy said it appears council did not even consider the survey or the wishes of those who responded.
At the June 21 meeting, John Scott, of the cycling group Green Lanes, was the only delegate and he spoke in favour of cycling lanes.
“He said that 60% of the community would bike downtown if it was safe. How is that number correct?” O’Shaughnessy asked, noting that Scott, in his presentation, didn’t provide any data to support his claim.
“I think council was manipulated by the advocacy group and that information was presented in a way that council didn’t understand the full impact of their decision.
“I felt like somebody needed to speak up.”
O’Shaughnessy said he’ll keep the petition going a little longer, then will compile the data and send it on to the mayor and councillors with a request to reconsider their decision.
“Will it work? Probably not. But even if they don’t, they should be aware that a large portion of the population is not in favour,” O’Shaughnessy said.
The petition can be found at https://www.change.org/p/cw-council-say-no-to-adding-bike-lines-along-st-david-street.
