Mayor opposes street closure for park project

Lordon says street should stay open to avoid rerouting traffic onto nearby streets

A conceptual drawing of the city’s proposed Ian Baillie Recreation Hub on Howard Street, in the former town of Chatham. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)

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MIRAMICHI • The city’s mayor used an open house for a proposed park project in his neighbourhood earlier this week to voice his opposition to a street closure being considered as part of the project.

Mayor Adam Lordon and his partner, Evan Hudson, attended Monday’s open house at the Chatham Knights of Columbus hall as concerned citizens to oppose the possible closure of Howard Street, between Stanley Street and Henderson Street, to make way for the planned expansion of the Howard Street Park and a housing development on the old Ian Baillie Primary School site.

Council and staff have dubbed the new portion the Ian Baillie Recreation Hub.

Engineering director Mark Buckingham presented options for closing the street or keeping it open. Before council votes on the idea in the near future, he said he plans to recommend closing the street to make the area safer for park users.

But Lordon said there should be a way for the parks and street to coexist.

“I grew up in this neighbourhood,” he said. “My grandparents used to live at the corner of Howard and Henderson, and I used to cross that street every day to go to my grandmother’s for lunch and back to school at Ian Baillie in elementary school.

“For decades, we had two functioning parks on both sides of that street and a functioning street running through it.

“I don’t favour closing the road. I appreciate the commitment to safety, but Howard Street is a busy thoroughfare from my perspective for people going to church at St. Michael’s Basilica or to the college. There has to be a way for the parks and street to live together in the same way they did in the past, whether it’s with sidewalks, crosswalks, speed bumps, or whatever we need to incorporate.”