After years of planning and an intense few weeks the decision to defer the realignment of Elma Street has been made by Town Council.

In Monday's meeting Friends of Elma Street, a local group created by homeowners, property owners, business owners and others on the historic street, voiced their final concerns about the Veterans Way Pedestrian Corridor Project.

The project included the realignment of Elma Street, the addition of a multi-use pathway on the west side, the widening of the east sidewalk and upgrades to the Frederick Pryce Memorial Park.

Sean Buckley, spokesperson of Friends of Elma Street, says their group was very pleased with the final outcome of the meeting.

"When council voted Monday afternoon to defer the realignment of Elma Street east and west, as per councillor Sands' amendment to the original proposal, there was a collective sigh of relief. We felt very relieved and we the Friends of Elma Street agree that absolutely the right decision was taken by council."

There were two possible options council could have chosen: moving forward with tender and construction of all improvement plans the project offered or to halt the realignment and continue with all other improvements.

Buckley says though the realignment is now irrelevant, the group still struggles with the idea of building a multi-use pathway for bikers, skateboarders, walkers, etc.

"A double cycle lane, and a single pedestrian lane on the west side is really questionable, giving that it is a 10 percent grade. And that is the number that was given to us by the town consulting engineer."

Research from cycling organizations that the group found shows that 7 percent is a max safe grade for experienced cyclists and 5 percent is the max for recreational cyclists.

Though the local union disagrees with that addition, Buckley says they do feel the expansion of the east sidewalk is necessary.

"It's always been a narrow single width lane sidewalk on the east side, it's obviously very narrow. So it's just a prudent thing, there's plenty of room to double the width of the sidewalk, that just makes sense."

The future multi-use path will allow residents to view the retaining wall up close that will be home to an art piece commemorating Canadian Veterans.

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