Residents of Thurlow Ward met with Belleville Councillors Kathryn Brown and Paul Carr for a town hall style meeting, discussing the issues facing them.
The meeting was held at the Gerry Masterson Community Centre on Wednesday night.
The meeting started with a pair of presentations by the councillors, discussing the upcoming 2025 capital budget and it’s impact on the residents.
One of the capital budget highlights for the Thurlow area includes a $500,000 pavement dealing program, that will include roads throughout the ward, and in other parts of Belleville. Another major item on the budget is $2.2 million for road work throughout the area. Two million of the project cost is being financed through the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund
During the presentation, it was said that the capital budget projects were not being funded by property taxes. During a budget breakdown it was explained that the money is being drawn through a combination of reserves, grants, development fees, and long term debt.
The 2025 draft budget is set to be released in January, and another town hall meeting to be held in February.
After the presentation, discussion moved to a question and answer session with the residents. Questions from the residents to the councillors focused on recent traffic calming measures and their effects on bicycle traffic.
A heavy focus was on bollards installed along a stretch of Cannifton Road North. While they had successfully reduced traffic speeds while they were in place, residents complained they they obstructed bicycles, forcing them to swing out further into the road where they were at greater risk of being struck by vehicles.
Councillor Carr said that while the bollards have been removed for the winter season, so they do not interfere with snow removal, they are exploring options to make the area safer.
“It’ll come back to transportation committee,” said councillor Carr. “Staff will do a full analysis, and then the committee will make a recommendation to council in terms of whether they get implemented again in the new year.”
Residents suggested paving the shoulders to make a bike lane, however the councillors explained that doing so would require an engineering project to ensure that storm water is still able to drain properly along the road.
Residents also brought up a lack of active transit links from the ward to the more developed Belleville area south of the 401, due to the overpasses lacking sidewalks or bike lanes. Councillor Carr said he’s been trying to get the province to build active transportation links over the overpasses for a long time.
“The 401 overpasses, both at 62 and 37 have been an impediment, quite frankly, since amalgamation,” said councillor Carr. “The interchanges are a complete disaster. They’re unsafe. They were built in 1950 standards. We have so much more volume of traffic now coming on and off the 401, that can’t do it safely. So overall, it’s a complete mess.”
While the municipality isn’t able to add to the overpasses, as they belong to the province, they are looking at options including a tunnel to make it safe for cyclists and pedestrians to cross the highway.
Thurlow residents wait their turn to ask questions of their councillors at the Town Hall meeting. Photo: Alan-Michael Steele
