email I sent to Mayor and City Counsellors

Dear Mayor McMullan,

I would like to know how the citizens of St. Catharines can get a crosswalk installed on Geneva St. at Wood St.

The matter of an elderly gentleman pedestrian getting hit by a car where he "attempted to cross where there was no crosswalk"
on Geneva near Carlton St. has spurred me to take action.

Think about it for a minute. Or better yet take a walk from Lancaster Park to the Fairview Mall and imagine a senior, children or a mother with a stroller trying to access the Fairview Mall, LCBO or convenience store from the east side of Geneva St.

The residents of 2 seniors homes, 50 odd homes, a church, the City Parks & Rec dept. & yard, children using Lancaster Pool, Soccer Field, and Ball diamond, and city bus all must enter or exit at Wood St. and Geneva or Wood St. and Carlton St. where no traffic light or crosswalk exist.

A resident on the east side of Geneva wanting to cross SAFELY to go the the convenience store across from Ted St. must walk all the
way down to Scott St. or go south to the lights at Fairview Mall. Its insane!!
Firstly, crossing at the lights to Fairview Mall is a challenge as almost all traffic is either turning N or S exactly when foot traffic is supposed to cross. Secondly, once across the intersection the sidewalk ends and another challenge to get through the parking lot to the Mall.

Have you ever seen the crosswalks in Toronto? How is it possible in our fair city that pedestrians don't have safe crosswalks?

Geneva Street from the lights at the entrance to Fairview Mall and Scott St. is a veritable speedway.

The very least the city could do is install "caution PEDESTRIANS CROSSING" signs at Wood & Geneva St. and at Wood and Carlton St.
as the same situation exists between Geneva and Vine St. on Carlton St.

If the same number of deer were crossing along that stretch of Geneva St. there would be
DEER CROSSING signage to warn drivers. Really. Think about it.

In the age of being "green" and to encourage people to walk, at the very least there should be an on-demand crossing light
like the ones that exist at Hotel Dieu Hospital on Ontario St. or at Memorial School on Welland Ave.

A CROSSWALK IS DESPERATELY NEEDED AND HAS BEEN FOR QUITE SOME TIME.

I challenge you and your council to attempt to cross Geneva St. from Wood St. and think of your elderly parents or your children attempting
to cross.

Again,
How do we go about getting a crosswalk installed?

Sincerely,
Benita A. Collini

PS. I have started a blog about it and will add photos and video soon!
http://genevastreetcrosswalkproject.blogspot.com/

No reply to my letter to the City Counsellors and Mayor YET.

I received an answer to the letter I sent to Region of Niagara regarding a crosswalk wanted on Geneva St.
They told me it is the City of St. Catharines responsibility.
My letter to the city was sent on July 22, and i haven't rec'd a reply YET.
It seems to me no one really cares....
With all the out of town ball players at Lancaster Park this past week, there was more traffic than normal
and a dangerous situation for all foot traffic in the area.

TODAY, I printed up petition forms - once I have signatures I will submit these to the City of St. Catharines
and hope I might get a reply.

I have sent Counsellor Mark Elliot a link to this blog today.

on demand crosswalk light

Ok. This is the kind of pedestrian crossing we want on Geneva St.
There are many in St. Catharines, this particular one is on Ontario St. north of Linwell Rd. and serves a retirement community and Jaycee Park. There are others like this on Welland Ave by Memorial School, Ontario St. by Hotel Dieu Hospital, and several on Scott St. between Geneva St. and Vine St.
The traffic light only turns red for motorists when a pedestrian pushes the button to cross.
We are in dire need of one like this on Geneva St. at Wood St. and another on Carlton St. at Wood St.
Because of the length of the street between traffic lights, many cars travel above the speed limit which makes
it extremely dangerous for foot traffic to cross.
Someone told me there is already a traffic light on a dead end street where the new Sobey's and future LCBO are situated off of
Glendale Rd.
WHY DOES THE CITY NOT SEE A NEED FOR A LIGHT ON GENEVA ST. BY THE FAIRVIEW MALL??