The Town of Tecumseh is mulling over a plan to transform its "Main Street".
Tecumseh Town Council held a special session Tuesday afternoon to hear an update on a multi-year plan to transform the streetscape of its main thoroughfare, Tecumseh Rd. E. A presentation was given by representatives from Dillon Consulting, which was hired by the town to draw up a plan.
The streetscape also affects streets crossings at Poisson, Lesperance and St. Anne. The town's ultimate goal is to make Tecumseh Rd. E and Lesperance Rd. more accessible for pedestrians and cyclists.
Tecumseh deputy mayor Joe Bachetti, left, Mayor Gary McNamara, centre and councillor Bill Altenhof, right, listen during a special session of council on October 24, 2017. Photo by Mark Brown/Blackburn News.
Phil Bartnik, manager of engineering services for Tecumseh, told council that the first phase of the five phase project is about 60% complete. The town has met with landowners, assess proposed driveway closures and discussed alternative access to businesses along that stretch.
The area of town affected by the streetscape plan is divided into five sections. Four of those sections are divided into quadrants by the intersection of Tecumseh Rd. E and Lesperance Rd., while the fifth is a section of Lesperance north of Tecumseh Rd.
The southeast quadrant was the one that generated the most questions by council members, since the proposal would close off driveway access to a handful of businesses on Tecumseh Rd. E east of Lesperance to the VIA Rail crossing.
Ward 1 Councillor, Andrew Dowie says his main concern is access.
"Is the municipality not obligated to provide some kind of access to the right-of-way to facilitate development, or if you have a landlocked piece, you're out of luck?" says Dowie.
The streetscape plan allows for on-street parking, something that also appears to be a challenge in that quadrant.
Tecumseh Mayor Gary McNamara points out that other municipalities in the county have similar setups, and it's something he would like to see worked out in town.
"If you're going to down to Kingsville, for example, you don't have to very far," says McNamara. "Leamington, some of those core areas, you'll go quite a stretch without any type of access to any of those businesses, but they all have on-street parking."
The newly-estimated cost of the entire project is $32.8-million from beginning to end, according to Dillon Consulting. The first two phases of the project accounts for about 70% of the total cost.
The town had begun the process in the winter of 2016, offering incentives to business owners along that stretch of Tecumseh Rd. E.
