Sidewalks are not needed on Ridgewood Road!
There are many reasons why they are not needed on our street. Below are a few of the reasons.
Pedestrian Safety
Having a sidewalk installed will motivate the cars to speed through the street since the drivers will think that pedestrians on the sidewalk are “safer”. At the end this will achieve the opposite of what this change is designed to do – the majority of the accidents involving pedestrians are due to driver not paying attention or losing control of the vehicle due to speed.
Ridgewood Road is not a street that’s heavily utilized by both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The street itself is classified as a local street and is not a collector or arterial road. The existing road layout can easily accommodate different types of users including cars, bicycles, pedestrians, and so on.
Based on the City of Toronto data, there have been no fatalities or serious injuries to pedestrians between 2010 and 2016 (https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/9736-2017-Vision-Zero-Road-Safety-Plan-Peds.pdf). The data suggests that the pedestrian injuries and deaths occur downtown where there are sidewalks everywhere and along the major arterial roads.
The Vision Zero initiative is already achieved on Ridgewood Road.
Disabled Population
Contrary to popular belief, disabled population is not always better off with sidewalks on their street (https://london.ctvnews.ca/residents-with-disabilities-take-to-the-street-to-oppose-sidewalks-1.5357689).
Tree Loss
Installing sidewalks would result in removal of mature trees and shrubs. Such action would be horrible for the neighborhood and is in direct contradiction with the City of Toronto strategy to increase the tree canopy (https://www.toronto.ca/services-payments/water-environment/trees/).
Even if particular trees are not removed, installing the sidewalks will result in cuts to the roots of the mature trees. Normally the city does not allow removal of trees from the private property – “Any activity that could result in injury, destruction or removal of a protected tree is prohibited”.
Street Character
Ruining the character of the neighborhood – this would be a result of the aforementioned damage to the trees, shrubs, and landscaping, as well as the sidewalk installation that does not fit the existing housing stock on Ridgewood Road. Our street has very diverse houses, many of them older, and that are not “cookie cutter” design.
A concrete sidewalk cutting right through the grass will look ugly and simply will not fit the existing character of the street.
People choose to live on streets such as Ridgewood Road because of the unique feel of an older neighborhood that they offer while being in the City of Toronto (one can also describe the feel as “pastoral” or “cottage-like”). If one wants to live in a typical subdivision home that have sidewalks there are plenty of options within the GTA, including the Rouge community itself.
Loss of parking spaces
It is clear that installing sidewalks will result in reduced availability of driveway parking for the affected residents. It is not fair to take it away from them.
Reduced privacy
If a sidewalk is installed close to ones lot boundary then inevitably the privacy of ones home is reduced.
Reduced home value
Despite what one may think, installing a sidewalk will not increase the value of the homes on Ridgewood Road but instead will reduce it.
Many residents who purchased homes on Ridgewood Road specifically seek out this street due to its character and country-like feeling as well as increased privacy that comes with landscaping and greenery of many homes.
If that character is gone after the sidewalk is put in then less buyers will be interested in living here thus diminishing the value of every resident’s home.
Maintenance
Maintaining the sidewalks by the residents during the winter would be a massive burden. Many lots on the street are fairly wide, some are as wide as 100 feet. Most houses in Toronto that have sidewalks installed have much narrower lots – 20 to 50 feet with 50 being on the larger side. Asking the Ridgewood Road residents to maintain the long sidewalks that can be double the standard size is a very tall order, especially for senior residents.
Cost to the taxpayer
Last but not least, installing the sidewalks comes at a cost to the taxpayers. Their installation is expensive. Adding the sidewalks increase property taxes, and while it can certainly be justified on the streets that are dangerous for pedestrians, it does not make sense to spend that money adding them to the streets where they are not required.
It would be more prudent to spend these funds on other projects (including other Vision Zero initiatives).
Ridgewood Road 