Accessibility and Access Keys [0]
The gate on NCC property stood open for years, allowing cyclists and walkers on Albert Street near Preston to use it as a shortcut to the Ottawa River.
On Monday, though, it was locked.
Jasmine Leduc, spokeswoman for the NCC, said the gate borders an abandoned road that had been used for construction. Now that the work has been completed, the NCC has closed the gate indefinitely. “It’s judged unsafe for public access,” she said. “It’s not maintained, and it’s not monitored.”
The closing also fell in line with this year’s policy for crowd control at Bluesfest, which hoped to direct all traffic through an entrance on Booth Street to keep people from crossing the Transitway and unmonitored areas.
Leduc said the construction allowed the gate to remain open for years, and people were accustomed to cutting through the space, even though it wasn’t a marked pathway. “It’s an abandoned road, it’s not the NCC recreational pathway. That’s the bottom line.”
Eric Darwin, head of the Dalhousie community association and WestSideAction blogger, said he didn’t see the need to close the gate.
“It doesn’t make sense. It’s no hazard as far as I can see to public safety,” he said. “If you step on a piece of broken glass on the sidewalk, is the city liable?”
The locked gate is attached to a fence that runs along the south side of a patch of NCC land between Albert and the Transitway. Although another gate blocks access to the same road just above the Transitway, there is no fence on the north side of the property to keep cyclists and pedestrians out, meaning people only discovered the closing when they got to the south gate and were unable to get through.
They were forced to double back and ride around the entire plot of land, and up Booth Street instead.
“You’re telling people to go 3,000 feet down, go 100 feet, and then come back 3,000 feet to get to the spot there on the other side of the tracks,” Darwin said.
It’s not just the inconvenience that residents feel is unfair, either. “When you live here, it’s popular. It’s the closest point to the river for our community,” Darwin said. “We have the lowest amount of park space in the city, don’t cut us off.”
Other residents agreed. Sandra Gray was cycling home when she discovered the closed gate. She said the lack of notice or signage meant she was forced to go straight home rather than enjoy her ride along the river’s edge.
“Now what? No shortcut there, and I’m not going back either. I guess I’ll go straight home,” she said with a sigh.
The gate was open again Wednesday, without explanation. However, Leduc said that, whether or not it had been reopened, the plan was for it to be closed indefinitely.
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