{"id":2858,"date":"2013-06-27T01:31:35","date_gmt":"2013-06-27T05:31:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=2858"},"modified":"2013-07-10T16:31:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-10T20:31:10","slug":"inside-aurora-changing-lanes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-changing-lanes\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Changing Lanes"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 and that is why, Mr. Mayor, we should have more walking trails in town.\u201d
\n\u201cThank you,\u201d said the Mayor, as the speaker sat down. \u201cIf that\u2019s everyone, then I will close Open Forum and\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cWhat about running trails?\u201d asked a man stepping up to the microphone. \u201cThe lack of such dedicated paths in Aurora is forcing runners to use the roads.\u201d
\n\u201cWhy don\u2019t they use the trails and sidewalks?\u201d asked a Councillor, once again stepping a bit outside of the usual protocol of Open Forum.
\n\u201cNo self-respecting runner would use a sidewalk,\u201d he sniffed. \u201cThat\u2019s why we all run down the middle of the street. But it\u2019s dangerous. Vehicle drivers seem surprised to see us out there, and there have been many near misses. Factor in this occurring in the dark and rain, and it would be much safer if we had separated trails.\u201d
\n\u201cI still don\u2019t see why you can\u2019t use the existing trail and sidewalk network\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cActually, we\u2019d need jogging trails, too,\u201d said someone else.
\n\u201cIsn\u2019t jogging the same as running?\u201d
\n\u201cOh, no, they\u2019re much different paces, It wouldn\u2019t be safe to do them both on the same trail. We\u2019d need some separation.\u201d
\n\u201cIf runners and joggers are getting their own systems,\u201d came another voice, \u201cthen cyclists should get the same treatment.\u201d
\n\u201cBut cyclists can use the streets, and isn\u2019t there a bicycle path along Wellington Street East?\u201d
\n\u201cBetween bad drivers and pot holes, it\u2019s sometimes impractical to cycle on the streets, and there\u2019s no room to use that Wellington path amongst all the roller-bladers and skateboarders. How about proper separated bicycle lanes to keep us away from cars, like they are introducing in Toronto?\u201d
\n\u201cDedicated bus lanes would speed up my commute,\u201d commented a man at the back.
\n\u201cWhile my child was in our driveway, a dog being walked down the street barked at her,\u201d pitched in a lady up front (it was an unusually well-attended council meeting).
\n\u201cIt frightened her terribly. To provide a safe distance from children, I think people walking their pets should have their own network.\u201d
\n\u201cHey, if new trail systems are being put in for everyone else, then we should have one, too, said a man off to the side.\u201d
\n\u201cNo one has said anything about actually proceeding with all these new dedicated trails, and in any case, who do you represent?\u201d
\n\u201cThe Safe Pogosticking Recreational Outdoor\/Indoor Network Group.\u201d
\n\u201cYou mean…\u201d
\n\u201cYes, \u2018SPROING\u2019. We can\u2019t use the sidewalks safely, and if everyone else is getting lanes, we should, as well.\u201d
\n\u201cIf traffic is going to increase on the trail network, then all existing trails should be widened,\u201d piped up the original Open Forum speaker.
\nThings were getting out of control, so the Mayor resorted to council\u2019s tried and true deferral mechanism. Looking over to the side, he said; \u201cPerhaps we could have staff report back on this?\u201d
\n\u201cMr. Mayor,\u201d said the appropriate staffer, hoping to get out of yet another report. \u201cI\u2019m not sure there\u2019s enough boulevard or parkland space for dedicated trails for all of these interest groups, and if we put them in, residents may not be happy with so much of the town\u2019s green space being paved over. Also, if we added all these new lanes to the roads, there wouldn\u2019t be any rooms left for cars.\u201d
\n\u201cThat\u2019s true,\u201d agreed the Mayor. \u201cBut I think we should have staff look into the bigger issue that\u2019s been brought to our attention here tonight.\u201d
\n\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d
\n\u201cThat after spending thousands of dollars expanding and maintaining them every year, who exactly is using the town\u2019s sidewalks?\u201d<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston \u201c\u2026 and that is why, Mr. Mayor, we should have more walking trails in town.\u201d \u201cThank you,\u201d said the Mayor, as the speaker sat down. \u201cIf that\u2019s everyone, then I will close Open Forum and\u2026\u201d \u201cWhat about running trails?\u201d asked a man stepping up to the microphone. \u201cThe lack of such dedicated […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-K6","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-03 21:48:14","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2858"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2858\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}