City council voted against installing locked gates at the pedestrian overpass that leads to the waterfront.
The gate would have been locked every night at a specific time, and opened up again in the morning.
“My understanding is that this is to address some of the loitering concerns we have seen and the complaints about cleanliness,” said Director of Engineering and Operations Kayla Dixon Monday.
Others councillors voiced concerns about the overpass having a drug presence at night, and the common occurrence of vandalism.
At Large-Councillor Rebecca Johnson questioned whether there should be more input from individuals outside of council, especially the tourism sector.
“Here we are as a group of councillors making decisions on significant infrastructure, and I don’t really hear huge support by our administration at this time,” Johnson added. “I think it’s very important to hear from tourism for sure, I’d like to hear what the hotel has to say in regards to the consultation on this. Just to go ahead and do this because we have a social problem, and just like Councillor Giertuga says, are we solving the problem that we have there? No we’re not, we’re just band-aiding another band-aid. I’d rather put dollars into the solution to the problem to be quite honest with you.”
At-Large Councillor Mark Bentz echoed Johnson’s belief, focusing on the tourism aspect while also citing the benefits for anyone trying to access the waterfront.
“This overpass provides a safe access to the park,” says Bentz. “People are not going to walk through the vehicle overpass, so this provides a safe access for those who wish to take it, so I just want to throw that out there. Just keep in mind what a locked gate looks like to a tourist.”
The motion was defeated in a 6-5 vote.
