Residents on First Street South in Niverville are concerned about the safety of pedestrians in their neighbourhood. The street has a partial sidewalk between Third and Fourth that doesn’t fully extend the length of the street.
The sidewalk got disconnected from Third Avenue South when the town needed to address a drainage issue, creating what residents say is a hazard for people using the portion of sidewalk that remains.
Families from the block say they have asked the town many times to complete the sidewalk, citing safety concerns for the children in the area, especially when traffic volumes increase during the Niverville Olde Tyme Country Fair.
“We Want the Sidewalk Back”
Joe and Sherry Unrau have lived on First Street South for nine years. They have four school-aged children and remember when the sidewalk was functional and how many people used it at the time.
When a culvert needed repair, access to Third Avenue was removed and never replaced.
“They say the only reason they abandoned it is the culvert needed to be removed,” says Joe. “So they removed the part of the sidewalk so you can no longer cross over. They told us it was too expensive to redo it.”
What is left of the disconnected sidewalk is cracked or crumbling, partially grass-covered, with tree branches overhanging it in places making it difficult to walk.
When Mayor Myron Dyck first canvassed the area in 2014, residents showed him the issue at the time, but after the election Joe and Sherry say there was no action from the town.
“We want the sidewalk back,” says Sherry. “We need somewhere safe for our kids to walk.”
Traffic Volume
Besides residential homes, the street also accommodates a feed store, an assisted living facility, two churches, condos at the west end of the street, and soon-to-be-completed condos in the same block as the Unraus.
“There’s 11 or 12 kids who live right here,” says Sherry, whose 12-year-old daughter recently had been out walking the dogs when she nearly got hit by a speeding vehicle. “There’s elderly, there’s kids galore. And everyone is heading to school, both schools. She said if she hadn’t moved, [the car] would have hit her or the dogs.”
“I know it’s only one street, but during the fair they make this Main Street,” adds Joe. “There are hundreds of people using this street especially. With no sidewalks, they’re on the street and the cars are on the street. It’s a miracle there hasn’t been an accident. It’s chaos.”
Many other residents along the street agree.
Michael and Stephanie Penner moved to First Street South in 2015, at which time they recall that there were 15 kids living on their block alone. Stephanie has written to the town asking them to address safety concerns after the fair one year and says she has witnessed several near-misses when it comes to kids walking home from school.
“It’s a busy street,” agrees Michael. “It’s unsafe for children and elderly to walk down the street, especially in winter when you’re forced to walk on the road.”
Stephanie also says she has noticed people trying to use the sidewalk in winter, but it isn’t ploughed and the town has said they won’t clear snow on the sidewalk because it’s been deemed abandoned.
Jennie Putaro has lived on the street for six years and she has noticed that the foot traffic seems constant.
“At first when I moved in, it didn’t seem like such a big deal to me,” says Putaro. “But all of 2021 I was on mat leave and you’re always seeing someone walking by. And now I have a two-year-old who wants to run around and it kind of sucks pushing a stroller and walking a dog and you’re trying to evade traffic. It becomes a concern.”
Curtis Lee, who has lived across from Sherry and Joe since 2015, says that it has been like this on the street since he was in high school and was regularly walking to school.
Since becoming a commuter, Lee says he has had many close calls when trying to back out of his driveway.
“We back in to our driveway now so we can pull out with more of a clear view of the street to help keep kids safe,” says Lee. “There are so many. Especially when before and after school, all the way till six o’clock. And yes, especially on fair weekend.”
Town Response
Mayor Dyck has acknowledged the longstanding issue and that residents did bring it up with him when he first ran for mayor.
“I did try,” he says. “But upon review with our public works department, it is not possible.”
He explains that the town is widening and replacing sidewalks along Main Street and has a strategy to prioritize avenues as opposed to streets, as well as arterial routes.
“A few years ago council set a priority on sidewalks, with priority given to sidewalks that run to and from Main Street to get people to and from businesses and to and from the elementary school—so north and south—[and] sidewalks that are on arterial roads. So roads like Hampton, St. Andrews, Fifth Avenue, along PR 311.”
The mayor points out that most streets in Niverville running east to west don’t have sidewalks. There are also many streets in Fifth Avenue and The Highlands that don’t have sidewalks.
“At worst these residents are a half-block away from the nearest sidewalk… which is a lot closer than a lot of residents have in other parts of town, including the newer developments,” says the mayor. “Now, having said that, there is a sidewalk budget we spend to build and repair sidewalks each year and we are always open to hearing from people. Unfortunately, it does not always work where we or residents would like to see a sidewalk due to water drainage and such issues.”
He says that southern Manitoba’s rain events have created significant drainage problems and need to be taken into consideration when looking at altering sidewalks.
“While I get the concern for the residents on First Street South, part of the issue there is that to widen the sidewalks would remove ditch capacity,” Mayor Dyck says. “With the high rain events we get sometimes, more it seems every year, public works did look at putting sidewalks on this street, but it is not possible due to needing the ditch space for water runoff. Removing some of that capacity will only cause that water to run onto the road or up people’s yards with a greater potential for basements to get flooded. So I understand it would be great to have a sidewalk on that street, but it is a water flow matter that trumps a sidewalk.”
Not Unreasonable
The history of the sidewalk issues, compounded by the increasing traffic, makes the residents in the area confident their request isn’t unreasonable. They feel that public safety should be the most important factor in this case.
“Sidewalks are one of the most important parts of universally accessible streetscapes,” says Michael Penner. “In addition to mobility devices and strollers, it is also important for people with visual impairments, agility issues, and small children… It’s simply unacceptable. It needs to be on their radar.”
The residents do understand that adequate drainage is a must, and one suggestion they would like the town to consider is underground culverts so the sidewalk can go over top and once again reach Third Avenue.
“Yes, drainage is a valid reason, but that doesn’t seem like the only reason that would stop [sidewalk installation],” says Putaro. “You would have to do a little bit more engineering and look into that way of doing it, but… it’s a sidewalk. We’re talking enough to hold people, strollers, or animals. Then water gets to go underneath safely and we go on top. We deserve to be safe, too.”
Lee would like to ask Mayor Dyck to come and personally observe the foot traffic.
“If Myron were to come sit on this street for even ten minutes, he would see how busy it is and how reckless people drive down here. I’m sure he would rethink his avenue versus street plans.”
Another idea the residents propose is to remove the patchy sidewalk altogether, if it can’t be fixed.
Pedestrians have been observed walking down the sidewalk only to turn back, jump, or walk through ditches to reach the road where the sidewalk becomes impassable.
“I feel like I would [prefer it be removed] because people try to walk down it and there’s dips, cracks, things covered in grass,” says Putaro. “You’re giving people a false sense of security because it looks like there is a sidewalk to walk down and they get partway down, or they even reach the road at the other end, but have to turn around. If that’s the case, the town is now just leaving cement where it doesn’t need to be. If we can’t have a sidewalk, come and clean it up.”