Street memorial for Kayleigh Callaghan-Belanger, corner of Cliffside Drive and East Haven.
The issue of sidewalks in the Scarborough Bluffs is in the spotlight due to the tragic death of five-year old Kayleigh Callaghan-Belanger, who was struck and killed by a garbage truck in Cliffside last month.
Not all of the picturesque streets in the Bluffs area have sidewalks and there are two petitions being circulated online asking for sidewalks to be constructed.
This one is asking for a sidewalk on Cliffside Drive, where Kayleigh died, and this one is from residents of Chine Drive who are also concerned about the safety of children.
Chine Drive, south of Kingston Road
Controversial issue
This issue is a controversial one, particularly on Chine Drive, where many residents have been fighting the City’s plans to build a sidewalk because it would mean cutting down about two dozen mature trees.
An environmental assessment recommended building a sidewalk on one side of the street but the decision was appealed by residents concerned about the environment.
The issue is now before the Ontario Ministry of the Environment.
What do you think?
Ward 36 Councillor Gary Crawford has promised to hold a public meeting on the issue of sidewalks in the near future.
If you would like to do some background reading on the subject, here are a few links to recent stories you may want to check out.
The Toronto Star has published a fairly balanced article today about the competing priorities on Chine: Battling priorities on Chine Dr.: Rural ambience or suburban safety?
Spacing Magazine recently featured an opinion piece by Dylan Reid arguing in favour of a sidewalk: How to delay a sidewalk. (The comments under this article are interesting – seems clear to me they weren’t written by people with an understanding of the Bluffs area.)
Another piece in the Star, written by gardening expert Mark Cullen sided with those opposed to a sidewalk: Mark Cullen wonders who will speak for the trees?
Added on 02/04/2013: Another piece here by Mike Adler of InsideToronto.com. These folks at the Scarborough Mirror do a good job of covering our neck of the woods. You can follow them on Twitter at @SCMirror.
I’m a dog walker in southwest Scarborough and especially in winter, I really notice the lack of sidewalks on both sides of Kingston Road on a lot of streets. I have to drive the dogs to other areas a lot of time in winter to safely walk them. I would hate to see trees cut down but in other areas, specifically north of Kingston Road and east of McCowan, it’s all roads with no trees. I don’t know why there aren’t sidewalks on at least one side of the streets.
It’s a bit strange to see that the opposition to a sidewalk is (now) based on environmental (and ‘ambience’) concerns. Back in the fifties and sixties, sidewalk construction was generally opposed owing to the increase in property taxation that accrued from having a sidewalk….
That’s really interesting Grant. Do you have any idea how that worked? Your municipal assessment on your house would be higher if you had a sidewalk?
I live in a school zone in the Birchcliff area, not far from Blantyre Public School. At the intersection of Blantyre Ave and Parkland Rd, there is flashing red light that hangs above 3 All-way STOP signs and they just recently made it a “RAISED” intersection. People go speeding thru this area all the time. I’ve almost been hit there 3 times myself. There are no sidewalks on Parkland Rd. and people use this road as a thru-fair between Clonmore and Blantyre. I believe the speed limit should be lowered from its current limit of 40 down to 30 or 25. This is a school-zone and we don’t want what happened to Kayleigh to happen hear. I will be contacting Mr. Crawfod’s office to inquire how to get the limit lowered. (as Parkland Rd. is just not wide enough for sidewalks).
So I am pleading with everyone who knows the area and drives in it and thru it to PLEASE, SLOW DOWN, and for God-sake, PAY ATTENTION – ITS FREE (one of the few things that are – DON’T be distracted by talking on the phone) and please STOP (which means your wheels don’t move) at the STOP sign with flashing red light and raised intersection! God forbid you should hit someone, injure them or even worse it be a fatality. Just remember to SLOW DOWN and do a proper STOP when designated!
Like the commenter above I live near Blantyre School and agree with her assessment of the intersection of Blantyre and Parkland. Last year myself and many others in the community pursued traffic calming measures for the street. The city polled the street and the Community showed the needed support but unfortunately Scarborough Community Council turned down the the application for traffic calming even though it would have been installed as part of the scheduled road work, making it very inexpensive.
The raised crosswalk almost didn’t happen because of grading errors made during the road work. Myself and others pointed out the errors to Seamus Liu, the project engineer, and insisting that they find a way to install a raised crosswalk. The resulting crosswalk slopes significantly toward the north east corner of the intersection making it virtually impactless for cars turning onto Blantyre from Parkland.
Councillor Crawford and Scarborough Community Council are well aware of the communities outrage at their decision but their support will likely not be forthcoming regardless of public opinion. Birchcliff and all of Scarborough is sadly lacking in traffic calming and other amenities that the rest of Toronto take for granted. Perhaps its time to let our votes be our voices.
I have friends that live across the street from where Kayleigh was killed and they tell me cars and trucks still speed thru the intersection. As a parent I can only image the pain Kayleigh’s family must be struggling to live with. I am angry that a little girl was among the many pedestrians killed and injured on our city streets because of entitled inconsiderate drivers and unresponsive politicians. I pray that we do not see another unnecessary fatality of one of our children walking home from school.