Click here to sign up for our free daily newsletter.

Upkeep and traffic concerns for Ward 2 residents

Oct 23, 2015 | 6:20 AM

Although there was no overarching theme throughout the night, residents still addressed similar concerns at the Ward 2 meeting on Thursday evening.

The microphone was passed around as those with ideas on how to improve the ward were given a chance to address the crowd.

Leanne McLeod spoke to the crowd of about 50 people and addressed the lack of upkeep in the area.

“The river is one of my biggest concerns,” McLeod said after the meeting. “We have lots of garbage and dirty water. We’ve got lots of wildlife coming into the town and as far as the river bank goes, it’s not clean whatsoever.

“We have a lot of rodents in the area. In our ward, there’s just a lot of wildlife that’s moving in and shouldn’t be that close to the city,” she said.

Like others in attendance, McLeod said she would also like to see a larger police presence in the area.

“From my side of the river, I see people squatting under the trees, drinking,” she said, adding that there is also a lack of traffic enforcement on Riverside Drive.

That may change soon as the city is preparing to add speed bumps on Riverside Drive – one at each entrance and one in the middle of the road.

City council made the decision in September with Riverside Drive being one of the first roads to get them.

“I love the idea of speed bumps coming in. I know there’s going to be people against it and it’s going to be hard for snow removal for winter time, but it’s going to cut down on speeding,” she said.

Other issues raised by residents included unpaved streets in Hazeldell and Nordale and the lack of sidewalks in some downtown streets.

The Ward 2 meeting marked the last of the neighbourhood meetings the city has hosted over the last two months. The information from the meetings will be part of the city’s official community plan.

Additional neighbourhood meetings will take place as phase two begins in November.

 

knguyen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @princealbertnow