Resident concerned about pedestrian safety along Thompson Road

A local resident says Fort Erie needs to move faster at creating an active and pedestrian-friendly community, especially on one stretch of road he travels daily for work.

Dan Andrews works at a factory on Industrial Drive and reached out to Fort Erie Radio recently to share concerns about Thompson Road between Walmart and north of Bertie Street.

Within that section of Thompson Road is a QEW underpass, which once had a sidewalk on one side, but no longer does, said Andrews.

He told Fort Erie Radio he’s witnessed a double amputee navigate their wheelchair down that narrow road with “deep ditches on either side while a semi-truck and traffic passed very closely.”

He’s also seen a “terrified mother pulling two children in a wagon” while trying to return home with groceries.

“I have nearly been killed, walking or cycling under the Thompson Road underpass at least three times,” Andrews claims, referring to a time when he used to bike to work.

“Our future goal in the name of climate change is to have walkable neighbourhoods, but Fort Erie has not been moving in that direction at all except for new neighborhoods,” he wrote in an emailed statement.

If a new house is built it has to have a sidewalk in front of it or at least on one side of the street, but this does not “address the massive issues” we already have, he said.

Although Thompson is a regional road, sidewalks potentially being placed in the area are the responsibility of the local municipality, Niagara Region communications staff told Fort Erie Radio.

Ward 2 Councillor Nick Dubanow talked to Fort Erie Radio and explained that an active transportation master plan approved in the previous term of council includes a long-term vision that could address this.

Right now, sidewalks extend along Thompson Road to Oakes Drive, where they end.

“The reason they go no further is because there’s no room under the QEW to accommodate sidewalks and providing space for them would be a major undertaking that would require a complete replacement of the existing QEW structures,” he said.

“Any extension to sidewalks would dead-end on either side, which is not ideal and unsafe,” he added.

But the town does have a long-term plan to construct a new multi-use trail along the old railway right-of-way underneath the QEW up to the Fort Erie Race Track entrance, which would tie into plans to redevelop Bertie Street into a more pedestrian-friendly corridor.

This area was also identified as part of the regional cycling network, he continued.

Sidewalks along Thompson north of the QEW would likely be constructed as part of development applications as the land use in the area changes, as the town generally requires roads to be upgraded with sidewalks as part of a development application within the urban area.

The town simply doesn’t have “Niagara Falls money” to take on projects such as this, said Dubanow, referring to what Fort Erie’s neighbours up the QEW get from the province for hosting casinos, to the tune of several million dollars a year.

“It all comes to funding and prioritizing what linkages to do,” Dubanow told Fort Erie Radio.

As plans for new residential and commercial development in that part of town unfold, residents like Andrews could see some improvements.

“As that happens, we’ll look into adding sidewalks and cycle lanes,” said Dubanow.

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