From My Bottom Step

• Item #5 on Monday’s ETC agenda is a request that approval be given to spend $359,392 on “a consultant for the design of the Commissioners Road West Widening Project” between Wonderland Road and Viscount Road, which is characterized as a bottleneck because there’s 4 lanes on Commissioners to the east and to the west. That’s an awful lot of money just for a consultant for a design. One has to wonder what the total cost of widening this short stretch of road will be? And note this – a January 2006 EA report recommends that it should be widened to 5 lanes, not 4! So, after this stretch is widened to 5 lanes, does that mean that there’ll be an argument to widen the rest of Commissioners to 5 lanes to the east and the west?
• Item #10 is a recommendation that approval be given for “design and construction of lighting improvements and clearing of foliage” to the pedestrian walkway between Victoria Street and Leroy Avenue. ETC will also receive a “Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)” review. Blog readers will remember that this is the walkway that Councillor Orser proposed be closed and that I made a submission opposing the closure. It’s estimated that the cost of increasing the lighting levels and attending to obstructive foliage will be about $40,000.
• Item #11 is a report by Dave Leckie with respect to Winter Sidewalk Maintenance. Not sure what ETC might do with this but pedestrians should pay close attention.
• Item #12 is a recommendation to allow overnight parking.
• Item #13 is a report about a couple of free parking initiatives.

I’ll be webcasting today’s Environment and Transportation Committee meeting starting at 04:00 p.m. To view the webcast, go to THIS WEBPAGE.