HRM Support: Surprisingly Receptive

Those familiar with the Bayers Lake business park realize that the area is incredibly inconvenient for pedestrians to navigate in the winter. Sidewalks are sparse and often unconnected to one another. Recently, the major bus route servicing the park changed its route from going through the parking lot to along the main road. This results in an incredible inconvenience, as many of the the drop-off/pick-up points lack sidewalks for pedestrians to walk along, forcing them to walk along the road to avoid traversing through high snow banks. For the elderly, those with strollers, and small children, this is an especially treacherous venture.


To express my general discontent with the situation in the park, I wrote a brief email to my city councillor, Reg Rankin of District 22 (which can be found below). I also copied the HRM general contact address on the email as well, which proved to be more fruitful. While my elected city councillor (facing re-election in October, 2012) apparently ignored the email I sent his way over a month ago, I was surprised to receive feedback from the city.

My email ended up being transferred to an employee who oversees the construction of sidewalks among other things in HRM. She explained that she and the city is aware of the situation, but they are limited due to budget constraints that only allow them to build so many new sidewalks every year. As other areas such as Burnside and Dartmouth Crossing are largely lacking in sidewalks as well, she made it seem like it could be some time before such changes in the park are made.

While this information was hardly surprising to me, and my main reason for sending the email was to simply bring further attention to the matter, I was very much surprised by the speedy reply from an employee of the Municipality. It's good to see that it takes comments seriously, despite the fact that some elected councillors apparently don't.

Hello Councillor [Rankin],

I wanted to write with regards to the lack of sidewalks in Bayers Lake and the significant inconvenience this presents to those travelling by foot in the area, especially in the winter time.

With the colossal snow banks in the winter time and the lack of room to walk anywhere but on the roads, navigating Bayers Lake on foot is often a risk to one's safety. The recent route change of Bus #52 through Bayers Lake only makes it worse for many, as those with small children and strollers are at an even greater risk as they try to make their way to the bus stops along Chain Lake Drive. Not to mention those employees who get off work after dark and walk down on the road as they make their way to the bus stop.

Often, the bus stops are not even properly cleared of snow, which results in passengers stepping out into a snow bank. The risk of an individual getting out and the back door of the bus and slipping under is significant to note as well.

Changes must be made to the Bayers Lake park, as the current situation is unacceptable for many.

Sean Joudry