Sir: I would like to thank C.E. Luxton and The Chatham Voice for bringing up the issue of sidewalks in Chatham (“Some decisions make little sense,” letter to the editor, Oct. 12 Chatham Voice). It wouldn’t seem as significant an issue to know that a sidewalk is needed on King St. W. in Chatham if it wasn’t for the new sidewalk on the other side of town, paved last year during a road repaving.
In the 20 collective years that I have lived in Chatham I have never seen a pedestrian at the intersection of Grand Avenue East and Prince Albert Road. The new isolated sidewalk at this intersection does not connect to any other foot traffic and is at the edge of town. Its construction used up some type of budget while much-needed sidewalks in the middle of the city are not in the budget at all.
Instead of making the residences in the middle of the city on any given street pay for the construction of a new sidewalk (which most often is the case) perhaps the municipality should have forgone the small patch of sidewalk that encompasses the Grand Avenue East intersection, instead dedicating it to building sidewalks where they are genuinely needed.
My praise to C.E. Luxton for the concern of the safety of others and bringing this issue to city hall. I only hope the city’s current and future construction plans include the reasonable voice of its citizens.
Kasia Krol
Chatham
