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Bruce Beach parking issue settled Ratepayers and visitors wanting to visit Bruce Beach should have safe, hassle free parking at the nearby public beach access next season, following a recent meeting between township staff and the president of the Bruce Beach Association. Council for Huron-Kinloss heard at its November 5 meeting in Ripley that public works superintendent Hugh Nichol, the administrator, Mary Rose Walden and parks and rec’s Mike Fair met “on-site” with the President of the Bruce Beach Association to discuss the on-going parking issues on Concession 8, west of Lake Range Drive. The area is a popular beach access and with parking limited, concerns have been voiced by residents regarding “pedestrian safety, traffic congestion, and emergency vehicle access,” among other things. The problems regarding parking in the area have been on going for several years. Ratepayers and visitors wanting to use the beach have had troubles finding safe parking near the public beach access. Adding to the problem was that some property owners on Cameron Lane had planted trees and shrubs, placed rocks, etc, on the side of the publicly-owned road allowance, thus restricting parking. This forced visitors to park near the crest of a steep hill on Concession 8, leading down to the public beach access. Council then received letters from residents stating that parking was unsafe. One local resident in 2006 suggested in a letter to council that “day trippers should swim elsewhere,” as they increase vehicle traffic and make the public beach too crowded. It’s important to note that these actions/letters were not the actions of the majority of the area’s residents. (See archived related story by clicking here.) That did not sit well with council, staff, or residents from other parts of Huron-Kinloss and council decided to end the disputes once and for all. At the November 5 meeting, council decided to do just that and gave Nichol the OK to put the parking issue to rest. Nichol recommended creating shoulder parking on the east side of the 66-foot Cameron Lane road allowance. Concession 8 could then be designated for parking on one side only as well, allowing for easier traffic flow. This is not the first time the idea of widening the road to allow for safer parking has been discussed, however some local residents were against the idea and the issue was never settled. Council even went so far as to attempt to lease a vacant lot near the access to be used as safe parking, but the owner declined to lease the property. Out of options, council agreed to go ahead with Nichol’s plan and decided that notices will be sent to the property owners on Cameron Lane explaining the township’s intentions. The municipality will be giving notice that “the township will not be responsible for any damages to a homeowners’ property deemed to be on road allowance. This includes, but is not limited to, damages involving fencing, signage and shrubbery.” Nichol says the first step is to go out and find the survey stakes and find out exactly where the road is located before finalizing any plans. “That should only take an hour or so. We’ve got to make sure that the road is running down the centre of the road allowance, if so, we can go ahead as planned.” The work would include “doing some digging and bringing in some gravel to add a shoulder” to the east side of Cameron Lane. Before the work begins, Nichol says the township wants to be fair to everyone and will give area cottage owners a chance to move any trees, shrubs, other property etc, from the road allowance before the township goes ahead with the work. As for when, Nichol would like to start as soon as possible, but figures the job may not be completed until the spring of 2008. “I’d like to see it done before the long weekend in May.”
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