eatlaughsmile@gmail.com

I live on st. John's speedway. While I appreciate there may be practical issues with installing speed bumps (like impeding emergency services using the road to get to someone in need), there must be an alternative to the absolutely-nothing we are doing now. The turn at 7 and st. John's is a nightmare. This would be a great spot for a 4way stop.

Additionally, I have tried, without success to get bylaw to enforce the no parking signs on the side of the road with the pedestrian walkway. I'm not sure why anybody thinks it is a paved shoulder, however, there are very few 'no parking' signs and absolutely no enforcement. I have a child who must ride, run, or walk out into an active lane of traffic to get around parked cars. It is absurd!

I have a habit of taking my dog out in the wee hours of the morning for a run about the neighbourhood. Whenever possible, I avoid the sidewalks in the subdivision (around Anna Maria) for two reasons: 1 in winter, the sidewalks are often in terrible condition compared to the street with uneven snow/ice build up; ice; etc. And 2) the trees that were planted along those roads are all shorter than the lamp posts. The trees block 100% of the lighting making it very difficult to see (for me) where I'm stepping and also, potentially, putting me at greater risk of someone hiding in the shadows and surprising me. The road tends to get a lot more light as the tree canopy can only stretch so far. (Don't get me wrong, I love trees. But will these dwarf below the lights forever? That subdivision is 20years old. These trees should be at their max height?) There are also roads south of 7th line, adjacent to st. John's without any street lighting at all! I light myself and the dog for safety and I keep a headlamp on... But sometimes it is just too spooky. Especially when there are reports of bears wandering through alcona in spring...

Last, on the discussion regarding trails - the Simcoe county forest management site has tons (tons!) of forest tracks around the county that are for the mixed use of our residents. They are exceptional! Some are small, some are long. Some are well travelled, others neglected and wild. Sadly, most are informal garbage dumps. What they almost universally have in common though... They aren't in Innisfil! They are more so found on the outskirts of Barrie (with a very small selection in Innisfil/Bradford). I realize that the county controls those, but, I would absolutely love to have a wild, desolate forest to walk through HERE. And I don't mean a tiny, paved path with trimmed grass and soccer fields around it. I would happily help break trail if the town had a plot of land that could be used for such a purpose. It just makes me sad to have to drive 40min+ away so that I can have a quiet morning walk with my dog. Variety is the spice of life, so walking the Wood lot on 25th repeatedly is just insufficient.

It would be my pleasure to discuss further with the town. I'm approaching 10years in Alcona and I love it dearly.