The Communities In Action committee is recommending that the Township of Minden Hills more clearly define Pritchard Lane and perhaps install some infrastructure to make the area safer for pedestrians.

CIA members Sue Shikaze and Kate Hall visited Minden Hills councillors during their Sept. 12 meeting. Shikaze and Hall presented council with a number of suggestions for pedestrian-friendly and active-transportation-related improvements that could be made in Minden.

One of those suggestions was to clearly define Pritchard Lane a street which passes through the centre of the municipal parking lot outside the Minden Hills office but looks largely to be part of the parking lot.

“It’s really one continuous piece of pavement with a few lines” Shikaze said. The committee is suggesting a designated area for pedestrian use on the installation of dividers such as curbs.

“Right now it’s a bit a of free-for-all” Shikaze said. “If you were a visitor to the town I’m not sure you’d really be aware that that’s really a road.”

Other suggestions included decorative paving at the village’s courtesy crosswalks so that they stand out more and improvements including signage for the commonly used pedestrian alleyway connecting Milne Street to the main drag of Bobcaygeon Road.

“There’s currently no signage to indicate to someone who’s a visitor that there is a corridor to Main Street” Shikaze said.

Other suggestions included the addition of bicycle racks in downtown Minden and the reduction of the lane width of Bobcaygeon Road from Highway 35 to the cultural centre to allow for refigured parking as well as a bicycle lane.

In terms of snow-clearing during the wintertime while Hall said the township does a good job on its sidewalks she said snow can sometimes pile up in areas where public and private property meet making it difficult for people to push pedestrian crossing buttons in some cases.

“Those transition areas between public and private property are really key as well” Hall said.

Hall and Shikaze commended the township for a number of pedestrian-minded improvements it has made during the last decade or so including the widening of the sidewalks along Bobcaygeon Road the lowering of the speed limit through parts of the village of Minden to 40 km/h and the construction of the Riverwalk a two-kilometre walking loop around the Gull River.

The CIA’s recommendations will be referred to the township’s roads committee.