Gaukel Street Pedestrian Promenade

[danbrotherston]

Back in 2019 there was a lot of discussion between interested neighbours, city staff, CycleWR and the neighbourhood associations about whether Gaukel should be for pedestrians or for both peds + cycling.

Looking at a map, it might seem like Gaukel is a natural trail extension off of Vic Park, it's not actually a great route for cycling. The area of Victoria Park around the big green, past the clocktower and at the Joseph St. entrance is great for pedestrians, but too constrained and meandering for bikes. Water Street and David/Ontario Street are much better cycling routes to get from the Iron Horse Trail to downtown.

We're at the point where we can plan for both cycling and pedestrian infrastructure in a way that doesn't lump them together all the time, and I think that's great.

It's unfortunate that I don't think the people who actually live on those streets were consulted. I saw a lady crying in the meeting last Thursday, saying:"I'm glad someone is finally speaking up for us."
Sad.

That is not even remotely true, every single one of those houses received a documentation, and I know the person in charge here, and they are extremely dedicated to deep public consultation. I also happen to know that they went door to door with all the small businesses affected by this.

Those who live on the streets are aggressively consulted, this is always the way it is, too much I feel.

As for people who think nobody is speaking for them, this is a common refrain from people who are accustomed to being listened exclusively too, and are now dealing with other people's voices being in the mix.

Also, I'm not sure what "last Thursday" meeting you are talking about, there was no public consultation or city meeting about the downtown grid or Guakel street on Dec 3 or Nov 26 that I know of.