While most concerns go to the traffic department's project team, working on the Bronson file in the councillor's office (as well as being on the DCA and the CCCA and handling the @RescueBronson twitter account) means I get to hear from many people about the issues they're facing: shops along the street are suffering major drops in business, residents on and near Bronson have to put up with the very noisy construction work starting early in the morning, and people everywhere in the community have to deal with drivers treating their quiet side streets and school-zone main streets the same harsh way they treat Bronson: like a highway to be crammed tight at rush hour and sped through the rest of the day, all to get through the neighbourhood as quickly as possible with little regard to the people who live there. This is just a small sampling of the issues people are dealing with.
Luckily, it's not all bad news. The nighttime drilling, which was done on extremely short notice, is over for this year's construction. There has been lots of behind-the-scenes work to look at ways to address the speeding and other traffic issues on the side streets, including temporary and permanent measures (such as signs and speed humps, respectively). A digital speed board, which displays your speed as you approach it, has been installed on Booth Street next to the 40 km/h sign in front of St. Anthony's Church. The police have been doing lots of enforcement of persistent traffic problem areas. If all goes well, some new sharrows will be painted next week.To connect all this to the above photo of workers installing a big sewer chamber at Bronson and McLeod, there has been a recurring theme: despite the other problems, people say that the construction crews on Bronson itself have been very accommodating.
If you get a chance, take a walk down Bronson Avenue at least once a week. It's easier now that there's no traffic. Discover the businesses on the street and visit them often. It's not the businesses' fault the road is under construction, and they need the support of their neighbourhood to make it through eight more months of construction.
(Also, don't forget to check out this weekend's Jane's Walks happening around town!)
[Look for more one-photo posts under the label Singles]
At the re-Cycles / Cycle Salvation shop we seem to be doing Ok (so far). Since we are a "destination location" customers will still seek us out. We sold off all our winter-built inventory just as quickly as in past years, and donations seem to be coming in at the usual rate.
ReplyDeleteWe'll of course only really know how construction has affected us in terms of revenue and how many people we served when we do our year-end in early 2013.
I should also say, as a resident of James St., that it has been remarkable how many motorists have ignored the four Do Not Enter signs stationed at James and Percy. Some have driven all the way to Bank St.! You'd think that with the parked cars facing them on them on the "wrong" side of the street might be a clue, to say nothing of no stop signs in their way at each intersection. The new traffic cone bulb-out (with a fifth Do Not Enter sign) seems to so far have the desired effect, though I was told that a neighbour was almost run over by an errant and apparently confrontational SUV that was later tracked down by Police.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Mark. It's good to hear that re-Cycles et al. are bucking the trend.
ReplyDeleteWe've spent a lot of time trying to deal with that intersection and I'm glad to hear the traffic cone bulbout is having an effect. Anyone else who is still going the wrong way is obviously doing so knowingly, and no amount of signage will stop them. (I've also heard of certain cyclists going the wrong way on that block of James... ;-)