Council approves John Street area design

By Sheila McBrayne

LEAMINGTON – The second major project in the Master Plan for Uptown Leamington will be the reconstruction of the John Street corridor. Similar to the first project completed last year on Mill Street, traffic will be restricted to oneway, westbound from Erie Street to Queen Street parking lot.

The purpose of the Master Plan for Uptown Leamington is to create a mixed-use space that provides attractive, efficient and accessible choices for the public (pedestrian, bicycle or transit) in concert with automobiles. The plan addresses the need for convenient, accessible parking, and supports the vision for the uptown area as a vibrant area for business and public activities.

Last summer Council heard the findings of the RC Spencer study, which included several recommendations to assist traffic flow, increase walking, cycling, pedestrian flow and connect the uptown to municipal parking lots. Following RC Spencer’s report to Council, a Public Information Centre was held in September 2019 to gather public input.

After Council’s comments and ideas from the Public Information Centre, RC Spencer presented the completed redesign of John Street, Queen Street, the parking lot and the Italian Centennial Park.

The design includes: • a multi-use path along the south side of John Street • bulb outs and angle parking between John Street and Talbot Street West. Bumper block and planters will be used as a test site, so the performance of the design can be monitored and can be easily removed and repositioned accordingly.

• a planned connection of the Russell Street parking lot, alley #15, Mill Street West through Shotton Park, across Talbot West, and along Queens Avenue to the Italian Centennial Park and the John Street parking lot. With the proposed changes to the parking lot and redevelopment of Queens Avenue and John Street, there will be a total of 104 parking spaces, which is two more than the current configuration.

Councillor Bill Dunn questioned the total number of parking spaces to ensure the final configuration would, in fact, have the same or a couple more than presently. Leamington’s Engineering Project Manager Alex Del Brocco assured Dunn that the area will actually gain two parking spaces.

A new concept introduced to this project is bulb outs and reverse-in, angle parking between John Street and Talbot Street West. This will be a test site, which will be monitored and will be constructed so that it can be changed. “It’s a great test site for any future parking projects… We feel this is a great opportunity to try the reverse-in parking,” said Del Brocco.

A Public Information Centre was held in September of 2019 in regards to the project. Concerns over truck access to Gabriele’s Furniture and rear access to the businesses fronting Erie Street from the revised John Street Alley were some of the concerns. Administration has been working to accommodate these concerns. Councillor Tim Wilkinson and Mayor Hilda MacDonald both commented on how much they looked forward to the completion of this project. “I agree with Councillor Wilkinson. I’m very happy about this. I think it’s very exciting. It makes our community so much more appealing, rather than just the usual,” said MacDonald.

Council passed the recommendation to approve the design of the project as presented.