Why a one-way street in Sharbot Lake?

Jeff Green | Aug 31, 2022

Two months ago, Central Frontenac Council approved the concept plan and awarded the contract for the same project at the same meeting for the final small part of the Sharbot Lake Road reconstruction project.

The plan was about the repaving of a short downhill street called Mathew that runs between the main commercial street , Elizabeth Street, and the Sharbot Lake Beach and K&P Trail, the principle tourist attraction of the hamlet and the assets around which a tourism promotion strategy has been developed.

Staff had taken the unusual step of putting the project out to tender before presenting the concept plan to council.

Repeated requests by the Frontenac News for explanation of the reason for this truncated process, have not resulted in a response from Central Frontenac Township staff.

The process was not of particular concern to Central Frontenac Council, however, as both the concept plan and the tender award were approved by them at their June 28 without noticeable dissent.

Since then, however, there has been quite a bit public comment, from local residents as well representatives from the Railway Heritage Society, challenging the process and one specific aspect of the plan, changing Mathew from the two-way street as it is now, to a one street running from Elizabeth to the beach.

A petition, sponsored by Marlene Betrim, whose house is located at the corner of the two streets, has been launched. The petition asks that the street remain open to two-way traffic.

Opponents of a one way solution, point out that there will be a bottleneck at the bottom of the hill, with the trail, Medical Centre Street, and two small residential streets, all meeting at the some spot, with only one direction for vehicles to travel.

As the matter seems headed back to council, the possibility of revising the decision regarding the direction of the street is a real one.

The infrastructure required to turn one lane of Mathew Street into a pedestrian walkway, is not integral to the main thrust of the project, which is already underway. The main thrust of the project, is to repair failed pavement and replaced the drain that collects water from the entire hamlet and is 1-5 years from failing.

The logic behind the decision to make Mathew a one-way street for vehicles, and a two way lane for pedestrians and bicycles, is based in part on a desire to create a safe way for pedestrians to access the village from the beach and trail, and vice versa.

Public Works Manager Tysen Meyers the project to council in June, accompanied by the consulting engineer from Jewel Engineering. On that occasion, he pointed out that when there a lot of people in the area of the beach, such as on busy summer weekends and, in particular, on Canada Day, pedestrians and cyclists have no safe to go back and forth between the trail/beach at the bottom of the street, and the top of the street.

The only way is to walk up and down a narrow two-way street, or walk the length of medical centre road to Road 38, cross 38 to the sidewalk and walk up a hill to Elizabeth street and cross Road 38 again in order to get to the top of Mathew Street.

Councillor Bill Macdonald asked if there was any way to widen Mathew Street to have enough room for a pedestrian walkway and two lanes for vehicles.

Meyers said that there are two problems. One is the cost of moving existing hydro poles, $50,000 to-$100,000, and the other is the minimal space in front of the homes on Mathew.

As he put it, either the vehicles will be inconvenienced, or pedestrians will be unsafe, and he recommends making safety the priority.

Looking at the matter from these two perspectives, it becomes clear there is no ideal solution to the issue, from either a one-way or two-way option.

It is also appears that there is larger problem. If the tourism potential of Sharbot Lake Beach is realised, traffic in that location will increase and increase year over year. And there is not enough space there for lots and lots of traffic throughout the summer months.

The entranceway off Road 38 goes past a restaurant that will be a major attraction and has a small parking lot, and the Sharbot Lake Family Health team and Dental that already have full parking lots on weekdays year-round. This leaves few parking spots for people seeking access to the beach and trail.

The whole area is located at the narrowest point of land between the two basins of Sharbot Lake, and there is nothing that can be done to change that. The only real way to create a tourism ready Sharbot Lake beach and trail location would be to move the Family Health Team to a less picturesque location, and free up a lot of parking and use the building for a tourism related business or tear it down altogether and turn it into green space by the beach and trail to the south.

Another option is to abandon the idea of promoting the beach as a tourism destination, and leave it as a hidden gem used by local residents and tourist ‘in the know’.

Until now, that has worked well. Only on Canada Day is the beach so crowded that access is compromised. Other than that, it has worked well for as a public space for at least 50 years, without incident.

Trying out Mathew Street as a one-way road with a pedestrian walkway to see how it works would be easy enough to do, as the decision can be reversed.

Dealing with the potential influx of tourists at the Sharbot Lake narrows would not be as easy.