Halberstadt Thinks It’s ‘Satisfactory’ To Shift One Residential Streets Problem To Another
During March of this past year, Gladstone Ave., a section of a Transit Windsor bus route was under construction and the road was closed. This resulted in the rerouting of the Walkerville 8 down the 1100 and 1200 blocks of Chilver Rd.
Even though the construction date was known well in advance, there was no consultation with the residents that would be affected. This is particularly important because this section of Chilver is a main route for children walking to and from King Edward Public school as well as Walkerville Collegiate Institute.
Also, what they failed to take into consideration was that the 11-1200 blocks of Chilver are in fact slightly more narrow that the surrounding streets. As a result, if another vehicle was coming down the road, the buses were forced up and over the curb, onto grass, and even in some sections the actual sidewalk (see photo below) to make room for both vehicles to get through.
After contacting Transit Windsor and my councillors about the situation, including Mr. Halberstadt, asking why residents were not notified of the reroute, emails were sent back and forth with myself included with possible solutions. They decided that the Walkerville 8 bus would be sent down Windermere Rd., another narrow residential street just one block prior to Chilver and still used by King Edward Public School children to and from school.
I fail to see how moving the bus from one narrow residential road to another solves the problem. Here is a portion of the email from Mr. Brown of Transit Windsor:
“This morning we altered the detour route on the Walkerville 8 by using Richmond, to right on Windermere, to right on Ottawa, to left on Gladstone.
As of this email no major difficulties have occurred, with the exception of the bus having to go slightly into the eastbound lane of Ottawa Street when it is turning from Windermere.”
The fact that Mr. Brown admittedly stated that the Walkerville 8 would have to cross over into oncoming traffic is proof enough the reconfigured route still would not be safe. However, Mr. Halberstadt thought it was “satisfactory” even though a building at the Windermere-Ottawa intersection severely affects sight lines for both traffic and pedestrians and the bus would jet into oncoming traffic on a busy road, Ottawa Street.
I ask, could the Walkerville 8 not have gone down Walker Rd.? It is not that far down, just a few blocks, and I don’t see it as being that large of an issue to transit riders in terms of time.
Another key item to note was that after all the talk from both Transit Windsor and Alan Halberstadt was over, my question still remained unanswered: Why were residents not informed? Mr. Halberstadt was willing to host a neighbourhood “forum” to talk to residents, but that was after the fact and after the complaints. By the time any solution would have resulted from it, construction would have been completed. This is yet another example of Halberstadt reacting to citizens instead of being proactive and finding out their concerns on an issue before they are affected.
All that resulted from this was shifting a problem from where complaints arose to another street in hopes no one would speak.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Normally I agree with you, Adriano, but I’m afraid I have to say that the rerouting of the Walkerville 8 to either Chilver or Windermere was, in fact, a satisfactory solution. As a resident of the 1200 block of Chilver with small children, I disagree that the bus was a safety concern. In fact, the seeing the bus travelling down our street every fifteen minutes was a source of excitement for my 2 year old! We never had issues walking to and from the park or Ottawa Street, any more than we would have with regular traffic.
We did not have the same problems with tire tracks on our lawn that the 1100 block would have faced as our curbs are a bit higher. I never noticed an issue of that kind at all, although there were obviously some problems in the pictures you posted.
As far as rerouting the bus to Walker, I think that would be way too far. For someone like my Grandma who takes the bus on a regular basis, having to pick up the bus even a block or two away is a major inconvenience. Many people who take the bus have physical limitations that make it difficult for them to walk any distance. It’s important to keep the route as close as possible to the original so that these people aren’t forced to walk further than they are capable. in addition, keeping the route as close as possible to the original disrupts the schedule much less – the further away you go, the longer it takes to get back on track.
I think Chilver was the lesser evil in this situation – going in an east-west direction: Walker, Monmouth, Argyle, and Kildare are too far, Windermere is narrow and there are sight issues, Lincoln is obviously the wrong direction, and Moy and Hall are narrow as well – and probably are more difficult to navigate due to Giles’ boulevard.
I do think the residents could be better informed – ABSOLUTELY! But I understand that Transit Windsor probably didn’t have a lot of options.
Sorry, Adriano, but I think you’re off the mark on this one. There is nothing wrong with buses going down residential streets – as a matter of fact, it’s a good thing. They can’t all be relegated to main drags, ie. Walker, Tecumseh, etc., especially not secondary routes like the 8 that are designed to link neighbourhoods to the mainline routes like the 1C and the Crosstown. Transit Windsor had to re-route that bus somewhere. It was a temporary inconvenience I would have gladly wished lasted longer if it was on my street. To each his own, I guess.
P.S. Regarding those photos – did you witness the bus making those? Because I notice on one photo the tracks abruptly stop, whereas with a bus the tracks would continue and arc back to the roadway.
Thanks for your responses Kristen & John. It is very much appreciated.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with buses going down residential streets, however, I personally believe these portions of Chilver and Windermere were not the proper solutions. Many other residents felt the same as a large amount of children use these sections of Windermere and Chilver going to and from school since King Edward Public School is just a couple blocks down.
The intersections of both Windermere and Chilver at Richmond frequently see serious accidents as well. Residents have for years asked for 4-way stops at these intersections and have been denied, but that is another story.
The reasons for not using Windermere and Chilver are different. Chilver is much too narrow to to host the buses and a vehicle heading in the opposite direction at the same time. Also, when turning onto Chilver from Richmond, you can clearly see in the video the bus having to go into oncoming traffic.
Believe it or not, Chilver is slightly more narrow than Windermere.
Another reason I suggest Walker Rd. is because for the entire portion of the reroute, there were no passenger stops. This means that it was not affecting the distances individuals, such as Kristen’s grandma, would have had to walk going to/from their stop of choice.
As for Windermere, as it is a tad wider, other vehicles could squeeze through, but, the main issue was at the Ottawa-Windermere intersection. The building on the northwest corner is very tight to the sidewalk interfering with sightlines. Also, with the decorative arch in place, that portion of the sidewalk jets out narrowing the road.
As for the photos, yes I witnessed the bus making those.
My main concern still remains the lack of public consultation with the affected residents. This would have put to rest any questions as to whether my concerns were in the minority or the majority.
Please let me know if my response brings up any further questions.
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Fun Facts About Adriano Ciotoli
Adriano was born and raised in the Walkerville neighbourhood that he still calls home today.
He is an avid soccer fan and still plays in the Windsor & District Soccer League with Polonia FC.
A card carrying member of the Windsor Endowment for the Arts, Adriano is a strong supporter of local arts and culture.
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