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4 + WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, March 5, 2008 J. Earle McCormick Financial Strategist 519â€"725â€"4505 Earle@JEarleMcCormick.com www JEarleMcCormick.com What‘s your strategy? Cancer__â€" Sidewalk change draws citizens‘ ire The walkway, which was passed Monday night, had become a contentious issue when residents of two apartment buildings on Westcourt began to feud over the necessity of a sidewalk. fter more than two years of deliberations, city council A::pproved the construction of a sidewalk on the south ide of Westcourt Place near the intersection Westâ€" mount Road and Father David Bauer Drive. Residents at the Beechmount argued that it was unsafe and unfair they had to cross to the north side of Westcourt Place in order to access Westmount Road and that a second sidewalk on the culâ€"deâ€"sac would ease walkâ€" ing time to the Westmount Mall and a nearby bus stop. » Since the majority of residents at the Beechmount are seniors, a safe and accessiâ€" ble sidewalk is a key component to staying healthy and enjoying an active lifestyle, said building. _ / "It would be handy for me if I had a sideâ€" 5 £ said Coun. Jan d‘Ailly. walk on the south side of the street," he said. seen Sl_nce we "In a situation like this, you have to think "It would help me out a lot and it would help _ PLL £RiS POIICY _ about the walkability of the city," d‘Ailly said. out a lot of other residents. We have one couâ€" in place. But it "I recognize the imposed cost this will have ple who are both 95 years old and in the sumâ€" ,,7 R ,, _ on (Westmount II) but the good of the comâ€" mer they walk every day to the bus stop." won‘t be the l@st." _ munity overrides the inconvenience to those A traffic study done (residents)." by the city confirmed =Ian McLeah While the Westcourt Place issue has finally the need for a second Waterloo City Councillof _ peen nut to bed, McLean expects council will sidewalk since more than 1,000 cars per _ hear more concerns now that residents are beginning to day travel on the small street and 20 per _ understand the sidewalk policy. cent of pedestrians walk on the road to "This might be the first one we‘ve seen since we put the avoid having to cross Westcourt twice. policy in place," he said. "But it won‘t be the last." , an 85â€"yearâ€"old resident at the By Grec MAacDonaL Chronicle Staff "This might be the first one we‘ve seen since we put this policy in place. But it won‘t be the last." But residents of the adjacent Westmount Towers IJ buildâ€" ing argued that a second walkway would be redundant and would infringe on their property. Not only that, it would end up costing residents more and leave them responsible for maintenance and liability costs. "The proposed sidewalk at the rear of the property would compound existing municipal sidewalk maintenance costs," said Westmount II resident Tom Reuel, adding - that the building is already responsible for a stretch of sidewalk on Westmount Road. Reuel estimated that maintenance costs for the building would rise more than $2,000 and most of those costs would be going towards a sidewalk that Westmount II residents would never use. But the ultimate decision wasn‘t about takâ€" ing sides, it was about doing what was right for the community, said Coun. Ian McLean . "This is more than a neighbourhood issue, it‘s a community issue," he said. _ â€" "If we‘re looking to give people options other than getting into their cars then we have to look at installing sidewalks," he added. That might mean putting aside the conâ€" ces of the few for the good of the whole city, said Coun. Jan d‘Ailly. â€" s "I recognize the imposed cost this will have on (Westmount II) but the good of the comâ€" munity overrides the inconvenience to those (residents)."