The Blue Mountains council has voted to save as many trees as possible near downtown Thornbury, but in the process has delayed a major infrastructure project by at least a year.
At its meeting on Dec. 18, council voted in favour of a pair of resolutions to reconsider and redesign the Thornbury West Reconstruction project with an eye towards saving a number of mature trees that were slated to be removed as part of infrastructure work on Louisa Street.
Council first voted unanimously to accept a resolution from Coun. Paula Hope to reconsider the decision made by the previous council in 2020 that approved a design for the Louisa Street portion of the work that included on-street parking and a parkette.
Following that vote, after a lengthy debate and discussion, council unanimously passed a second resolution asking for a fresh staff report on how the design of Louisa Street portion of the project can be changed to save as many trees as possible.
The staff report will consider design elements presented, but ultimately rejected, by the previous council in 2020. It will also consider the elimination of the parkette, the elimination of parking on Louisa Street and the creation of an overall parking strategy for downtown Thornbury.
The resolution included consultation with local business owners and Louisa Street residents on the option to eliminate the parking on that street.
The proposed parkette and parking options on Louisa Street became the key topics during the debate, as the elimination of both would save many of the trees the community has expressed concerns about losing.
The bottom line: the Thornbury West Reconstruction project is now on hold for at least a year.
“At minimum, it will push construction season to 2025,” said Shawn Carey, director of operations.
Carey said a new plan will have to be re-engineered and would not be completed in 2024. Carey said even with the quickest possible turnaround on the new report, it wouldn’t be possible to design, engineer and pre-qualify contractors in time to get the work done in 2024.
The delay of the project by a year didn’t deter council, which had heard from numerous speakers earlier in the meeting that the preservation of the mature trees on Louisa Street should be the town’s priority.
The issue has been percolating in the community for many weeks, after the trees that were to be removed were publicly identified with markers by the town.
“The whole point of the reconsideration is to save as many trees as possible,” said Deputy Mayor Peter Bordignon.
