Two Delegations at City Council Argue Against the Transportation Plan for London Street

At the City Council Meeting of July 7th, there were two delegations protesting the City's Transportation Plan. This is an on-going issue. There were several delegations on this issue at the previous meeting.

The first delegate, Tim Paul, argued that the City has not properly consulted with the residents of London Street, that their survey is biased and flawed, and he gives detailed examples of this. He proposed that the city scrap the survey and find out what the citizens want.

The second delegate, Bobby Surai with a fellow delegate also expressed strong protest about the same Active Transportation Network Plan for the street. She argues that the City itself makes clear that citizens have a right to be engaged in public consultation and she proved that the city belatedly sent out notifications for those opportunities to engage after they had come and gone.

Her fellow delegate spoke particularly about the bike route and the requirement for neighbours to park at other locations than the street. She spoke to some of the related issues, such as the likely increase in speed by motorists, and the possible need for speed bumps, among other things.

In both cases, the Mayor directed questions to various staff on the consultation process. Ms. Surai made it clear that she would continue to delegate at every Council meeting until answers were given about the public process and the plan. The acting Chief City Administrator/Director of Administration indicated that getting answers quickly is difficult because of lack of staff to do so.