Easy access

Two of four Millennium Trail launch points approved

Council opted to approve only two of the four proposed launch points at last Thursday’s Committee of the Whole meeting held at the Highline Hall in Wellington. The Salem Road and Station Road launch points were approved, leaving Picton’s Lake Street launch point to be sent back and redesigned, and Bloomfield’s Stanley Street launch points to be removed, and a new location be determined.

The gravel launch points are to be constructed within the existing trail property boundaries. The launch points would provide a location for trail users to park their vehicles, access the trail, use as a rest area and provide basic amenities. The Trail Ad- Hoc Committee is proposing the development of four launch points. In order to provide convenient access points to the trail the locations have been selected to be evenly distributed along the entire length of the trail. A launch point already exists in Wellington at the north end of West Street and the proposed launch points were modelled around this existing location.

Stanley Street resident, Hilary Fennell, lives next to one of the proposed launch sites. She provided a deputation to raise concerns such as increased traffic on an already busy street. Fennell told council that Stanley Street is the second most travelled County road (not including Highway 33 or County Road 49), as it is a main artery in and out of Sandbanks Provincial Park. “We have an easy solution. Use Mill Street Park. It is .9 kilometres up the road. It already has a paved lot. It already has washroom facilities. It already has garbage bins and is being maintained by County staff.”

Councillor Phil St Jean agreed wholeheartedly with Fennell’s proposition, and amended the motion to exclude the Stanley Street location at this time. “Adding one more chokepoint for traffic in this area is just asking for trouble,” said St. Jean “I believe we should take advantage of the existing infrastructure that exists 300 feet away rather than spending more money to create something new.”

Project manager Garrett Osborne told council staff had looked at the other park, but that would require increased pedestrian crossings of Stanley Street, which staff wanted to avoid. “We are trying to achieve a balance of providing amenities for trail users yet not creating a facility that has high operational costs,” said Osborne.

The Prince Edward County Trails Committee has raised $128,250 to date for this project and is confident that they can raise the additional funds if necessary, but they don’t want to launch a campaign until full approval has been granted. The annual operating costs associated with the launch points will be a new demand on the County’s operating budget starting in 2021, and will total an estimated $37,324 per year.

Councillor Janice Maynard suggested minimizing maintenance and removing non-essential services from the launch points to keep costs down. Councillor Andreas Bolik agreed. “These launch points are meant for the purpose of launch points. They are meant to enhance and facilitate the use of the trail. The trail is the focus,” said Bolik.

Councillor Mike Harper asked if these points would be better used as parking, and not a full service rest area. “It feels to me like launch points need to be considered as an access point, for parking rather than a rest spot for along the trail.” Osborne explained that wayfinding signage will be installed to direct users to launch points, and keep cars off the side of the road. “We examined the properties that the municipality owns adjacent to the trails and we felt these were the best locations,” said Osborne. “It’s also important to note that the committee has endeavoured to create launch points that are fully accessible to all users.”

The Lake Street site was sent back to the drawing board as staff were asked to reconsider the design of the launch site due to concerns about the ability of the site to handle large vehicles that might take advantage of parking there. Mayor Steve Ferguson said he thought the location was fine, but that curb stops and the entrances proposed for the location would create problems. “I think you are just exacerbating a problem that already exists,” said Ferguson.