Letter from Penny Ryan
Trail
^^^
I’m writing as a resident of Daniel Street about the Daniel Street Realignment Project and the destruction of the heritage rock wall.
This letter is not is a complaint about the necessary upgrades any complaints about the inevitable unpleasantness of six months of road construction.
I’m addressing issues that could have been avoided and ones I hope to change moving forward.
The first thing is very short notice, this negatively affected the community in the following ways:
Less than two weeks notice meant that residents had very little time to
Find alternate parking and transportation.
Prepare for the dust and noise if sensitive.
Protect their property.
Mobilize to work on solutions.
The second thing was no consultation, this affected the community in the following ways:
Residents were left out of the design of their neighbourhood.
Residents were unable to have any questions or concerns addressed.
The third thing is the lack of communication. This is the one issue that can be fixed. Communication has been appalling. This has negatively affected the community in the following ways:
The biggest concern among residents is parking, this sounds trivial until you consider:
Many residents do not have off-street parking.
Many residents have mobility problems.
Very little parking is available on the extremely narrow adjacent streets.
There was no communication with residents about accommodation or access.
Nobody knew what the realignment project included, we knew the aging infrastructure under the street needed to be replaced but nothing else.
This led to speculation and anger.
For example the rumour that the traffic pattern changes would be permanent, meaning that it would be routed along Topping Street, which would be very difficult in the winter.
Marwest and all of the workers have been really great to deal with but without being told that they are our only contacts many people didn’t think to approach them and therefore didn’t get any information about anything.
When we approached City Hall we were unable to have any of our questions answered or concerns addressed, we were told to ask Marwest and that someone from the city would call us back, which did not happen.
The fourth thing is the heartbreaking loss of the heritage rock wall.
We were told that there are no engineers willing to sign off on the wall and no way to rebuild it.
If this is true, and there is no way to save this wall, are all the rock walls in Trail going to eventually be replaced with decorated concrete?
I’m also very sad that there are hundreds of violet-green swallow nests in that wall and I’m worried that the hatchlings will all be crushed.
I’d like to give a few examples of how the city’s action and lack of action have affected the community:
Two households that I know of stocked up on essentials thinking that they might be trapped in their houses for a week.
This was completely unnecessary expense, effort and worry.
My elderly neighbour had an appointment and had no idea if she would be able to get her car out, she wandered in to construction site with her walker and just hoped for the best.
This was a lot of completely avoidable anxiety.
She should have been given information about who to contact in a situation like that.
This is not okay.
We still have no idea if we will have any bus service during construction.
My husband was out for a walk and he saw two of our neighbours waiting with heavy grocery bags, the bus didn’t seem to be running so John quickly walked all the way back up the hill and drove down and drove them home.
This is not okay.
In conclusion I would like to have better communication to the residents of Daniel Street from both the City of Trail and from Marwest.
I would like help finding parking solutions if needed.
More protocol in place so that in the future another neighbourhood isn’t in a similar situation.
We must find a way to conserve the remaining rock walls in Trail.
And, again, I am not complaining about the necessary work.