Town supports highway bridge

BRIDGEEDITEDTown council voted to support in principle the construction of a pedway over the Trans-Canada Highway connecting Waterfowl Park to the Wetlands Centre.

The Sackville Pedway Project, consisting of a group of local volunteers, has been pushing the idea of a pedway since 1999. Now they have the town’s support.

“In order for them to progress their agenda, they have told us that it would be very helpful if the town council supported it in principle,” said Margaret Tusz-King, a town councillor.

“With an in-principle support, it gives them much more ability to talk to other potential partners and funders and interested stakeholders,” Tusz-King said.

The motion, which passed unanimously on Monday, came a week after Christina DeHaas presented to council last Tuesday. DeHaas, who represented the Sackville Pedway Project, provided a brief history of the idea and said that it was a matter of safety.

“Presently, many choose to cross the highway between vehicle traffic, rather than follow the town’s suggested detour which is both unmarked and lacks bicycle lanes,” reads the project’s website. A petition in support of the pedway’s construction has garnered 523 signatures.

Before council voted on the motion, councillor Bill Evans clarified that the motion supports the project in principle only, and does not promise any financial support.

“We are not making a commitment. We have not changed our priorities,” said Bill Evans, a town councillor. “But we are enabling a group to proceed with their own generation of support and funds.”

But if the group wants money from the town, they’ll have to ask again.

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