What We Heard: Kelly's Brook Shared Use Pathway
Tuesday, March 23, 2021 - 9:45 AM
The ‘What We Heard’ document summarizing feedback from the Kelly’s Brook Shared-Use Path public engagement process is now available at engagestjohns.ca.
Prior to the kick-off of public engagement, Council revised the plan for this project and will no longer pursue a path alignment that follows the river’s edge between King’s Bridge Road and Portugal Cove Road. As well, given that the path behind St. Pat's Ball Park along Kelly's Brook between Rennies Mill Road and Carpasian Road is also not feasible, staff concluded that the Kelly’s Brook Shared-Use Path will need to follow a roadside alignment east of Carpasian Road.
From December 2020 through February 2021, residents and stakeholder groups were invited to share their perspectives, ideas, and concerns about Kelly’s Brook Shared-Use Path through several engagement activities, including a focus group, virtual information sessions, meetings with advisory committees, mapping and idea tools on engagestjohns.ca, an online survey and a meeting with Empire Avenue residents on the proposed road alignment portion of the path.
Feedback on shared use and input to inform design decisions around elements such as lighting, surface materials, path alignment, trailhead and rest areas, wayfinding, and other features were collected throughout the process.
During the engagement process there were 3,440 unique visits to the city’s engage page, 822 responses to the online survey, 346 visitors to the interactive pathway map, and 89 attendees in total at the virtual information sessions.
A few key themes emerged from the public consultation process including:
- Accessibility and inclusivity considerations
- Shared use and the safety for all users is imperative
- The importance of safety in lighting, design, sight lines and intersections
- Preserving nature and natural aspects of the trail
- Preferred routes for pathway alignments
- Usability, durability, and environmental considerations
- Pathway surface material concerns including a focus on accessibility, traction, safety when freezing, maintenance, year-round use and comfort under foot
For a full summary of public feedback, review the ‘What We Heard’ document at engagestjohns.ca
The WWH is being presented to Council along with surface material considerations at Committee of the Whole on Wednesday, March 24.