The main reason that we are having sidewalks forced on us is due to the fact that Broooklawn is automatically considered a collector road as we have a bus "route" on our street. When a street is slated for construction, if it is considered a collector road, it is City policy to also put in sidewalks.

 From a cost standpoint, although when I spoke to the City, they told me the cost would be "negligible", according to a similar situation happening in Mapleton where residents are also getting sidewalks forced on them, “the new sidewalks would cost each homeowner about $1,600 over the next 15 years, plus maintenance responsibilities.”. 

 All of this because of a bus route which is but a detour; unnecessary as its ridership is so low. I had the pleasure of chatting with the bus driver at rush hour one day and at 5:01, he had 1 passenger on the bus. At its peak, a total of 5 riders for the day, this bus could use another street, with existing sidewalks. When I asked the bus driver about these possibilities he responded that he was just doing as he was told by his superiors and even though there are few riders it is not up to him to question it. The only passenger on the bus perked up to say that she could be taking another bus if she were to walk for 5 minutes to Kingston Road and she didn't need to take this bus.

 According to the city, adding sidewalks is a safety measure. However, if we are to consider the increasing number of bus accidents resulting in death, getting the seldom used bus route off our street, would that not be a better safety measure? Let’s ask the TTC to review the need for this bus detour on our street and transfer it to another street that has existing sidewalks.

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