What We Heard released

Today, the City of St. John’s released the summary of What We Heard (WWH) during public engagement

Public engagement took place in June and July, during which time there were 2,300 visits to the project page; 51 people actively engaged here. Twenty-seven people attended the virtual engagement session and 50 people attended in-person meetings. Additionally, City staff met with five other key stakeholder groups and five city advisory committees to gather their input, and received 20 email submissions and phone calls.

Summary of what we heard:

• There continues to be concerns about potential future projects (outside of the scope of engagement for 2023) among some people; some people also expressed concerns about the lack of consultation for specific sections of the trails.
• Generally, people support moving forward with active transportation, creating safe space for biking, and improving accessibility throughout the City.
• Signage, lighting, places to stop and rest, and access points to neighbourhoods are important to stakeholders and the public.
• Winter maintenance and year-round use is important.
• Etiquette and public education are key to successful safe use.
• Need to continue to build continuous paths that allow people to get where they need to go safely throughout the city.
• Intersections and crossings must be safe; where paths end, there must be safe ways to cross/signage.

For more details on what we heard, read the full report.

WWH will be shared with City Council during the Wednesday, Aug. 23 Committee of The Whole meeting. Meetings are broadcast live on the City’s website. Staff will bring forward recommendations regarding detailed design in the coming weeks.