City officials and staff from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) think they have a solution to the sidewalk problem on the Eagleson overpass, but it won’t be safe for pedestrians until at least next fall.
The sidewalk is about five centimetres too narrow for city snowplows to safely clear, and there are issues with the design of the bridge and approaches to it that make it a hazard for pedestrians.
Wilkinson attended a meeting with city staff, along with a manager of highway engineering and senior project engineer from the MTO.
Wilkinson provided this update to StittsvilleCentral.ca:
“MTO is looking at how to make modifications to make the sidewalk accessible by a ramp, wide enough for a snow plow and without the drainage channel cutting across it. [We] will put together a design and discuss it with the City for implementation this year (before next winter),” says Wilkinson.
“Snow removal this year will not be to sidewalk standards but snow will be removed when the bridge is cleared leaving a packed snow area – we prefer pedestrians to not use it and may sign it that way as it will still not be safe due to the drainage cut and lack of adding grit or salt,” she says.
She also said the City is looking at fully connecting the sidewalk approach to the overpass sidewalk when it’s in place.
Brandy Duhaime, a spokesperson for the MTO, said action items coming out of the meeting include widening the paved approaches and changing the drainage on the bridge.
“We’ll work on getting this work added to another contract this summer,” said Duhaime.
I have been trapped in Kanata for 3 years waiting for that bridge to get repaired, and now there is not going to be a sidewalk! I know Councilor Wilkinson will make it happen. There are so many busses that we on the north side cannot take to get home at night. All busses coming of the Queensway will not let us off the bus until we get to the Eagleson Park and Ride, but we can’t walk back over the Queensway until it is fixed. So we have to pay extra to get dropped off on Teron Rd. (there is only one reg. fare bus, the rest are all Express). Let us off the reg. fare busses at the intersection of the Qway and Eagleson, or give us a sidewalk, please.