A group of west-end residents in North Bay are looking for their lake access point to be restored.
Kyle Adamo and Liza Vandermeer presented to council Tuesday night saying back in October the Ottawa Valley Railway erected a chain-link fence blocking a 70 plus year lake, trail and greenspace access point.
Adamo says to their knowledge there haven’t been any incidents at the crossing.
“There’s no evidence of any safety issues at this crossing according to publicly available rail safety data. An open gate and an investment in rail safety are not mutually exclusive. Let us continue our access to the waterfront and look into (Rail Safety Improvement Program) funding grants,” he says.
The group, which has a meeting with OVR on Thursday, is asking the city to create an approved safe pedestrian crossing.
They point to the “Ryan’s Way” certified safe crossing located under the Trout Lake overpass, adjacent to Johnston Road, as an example.
Vandermeer says the RSIP program can help.
“This funding can be used to address safety concerns at pedestrian crossings on rail properties. There are millions of dollars available. The funding deadline is not until August of 2022,” she says.
Some councillors asked the presenters to keep them updated on the meeting with the OVR.
“Glad to hear that your group will be meeting with Ottawa Valley Rail, really that’s where any resolution to this needs to start,” says Councillor Chris Mayne. “If they come back with any proposal that the city can build on, please let us know, I think we’ll all be very supportive of that.”
The neighbourhood association also has a petition calling on OVR and the city to restore safe public access, with over 230 signatures so far.
