Newmarket condo residents seek ramp to access Davis Drive

YorkRegion.com
Jan. 11, 2016
By Chris Simon

Patricia Willman had easy access to Davis Drive - now she wants it back.

The Newmarket resident has been circulating a petition calling on the York Region Rapid Transit Corporation/vivaNext to rectify a situation she says it created between 250 and 260 Davis several months ago. The corporation replaced a staircase between the buildings, which feeds onto Davis, as part of the $260 million reconstruction project.

Willman, who uses a walker, used to access Davis via a dirt pathway that ran alongside the old stairway, but when the replacement was made, new fencing was added that hugs the staircase and doesn't provide enough room for walkers, strollers or wheelchairs to get past. Since YRRTC also changed the height and grading of the road, more stairs were added into the design.

There are about 280 total units within the condominium buildings and many of those house seniors and young families. However, the change means a large percentage of those people cannot navigate the staircase and are forced to extend their trek via Calgain Road and Lorne Avenue.

"Because we had steps there before, we figured we'd have the same steps again," Willman said, noting about 100 people from 250 and 260 have signed the petition so far. "Originally, those stairs didn't go as high as they do now. They told me it all boiled down to money; it would cost too much money to put a ramp in, as well as the stairs."

YRRTC could build a slowly inclining pathway to Davis through a grassy area at the western edge of the 250 property, Willman said.

However, the corporation is only supposed to maintain existing conditions on private property - not improve them - YRRTC chief communications officer Dale Albers says.

"We replaced the stairs with new stairs, as improving existing conditions on private property is not an eligible project expense, unless directly related to transit or roadway operations," he said. "We met with residents and property owners together last month to talk about the design and the condo board's decision to not have a ramp installed on their property. We committed to look at options and bring them forward again to both condo boards for their input and approvals."

Those options will be presented to the 250 and 260 condo boards within the next two months, Albers said.

The majority of residents living at 250 Davis are over the age of 70, Willman said.

"They told us everything would be as it was before," Russ Howe, president of the 250 Davis condominium board, said. "You're told these things and it's not what takes place. This is what we were worried about from day one. I'm not interested in talking to them about what it costs; I'm only interested in doing it for the benefit of our residents."

He said the condo board has discussed potential solutions with YRRTC staff in the past, but the residents expressed concerns over potential property and liability issues.

Ward 5 Councillor Joe Sponga is in the process of organizing a meeting between the condo boards and town officials. He says the issue needs to be resolved, since the redesigned Davis is supposed to encourage accessibility and walkability.

"This has been an ongoing issue for a couple of months now," he said. "It's a big issue because the buildings are the only option we have right now, really… for seniors and empty nesters. We've made such an investment to create a pedestrian-friendly environment on Davis and we have to understand there are some challenges now for some of those residents. If we want to promote a pedestrian culture, these are the types of issues that need to be addressed. It's not just seniors; I assume it would also impact moms with strollers and people with ability challenges."

The sides will need to figure out if the dirt pathway was a formal access point to Davis before a solution can be reached. However, YRRTC has shown a willingness to resolve problems that have popped up along Davis during reconstruction, Sponga said.

"Let's be frank, although the rapidway is now operating, there's going to be a lot of areas that will need tweaking from an engineering perspective," he said. "I'm not going to second guess vivaNext, in terms of what their engineering process was when they looked at this. It's just a part of a process that's been going on for four years."