Advocates wanting to protect the trees lining the north side of Sixth St. won’t be giving up their fight.
During council’s committee of the whole meeting on Oct. 21, Ann Cooper and Kathleen Knoll provided a deputation to councillors, pleading again for them to change course on the design of Sixth St.
The Sixth St. trees have become a hot-button issue as the road between Hurontario and High Streets is due for watermain replacement to improve water supply and pressure. The new design for the street as proposed by town staff has gone through two iterations before settling on the current design which will add one-way, seperated cycling tracks to each side of the street.
This design necessitates the removal of 39 trees on the boulevard on the north side of the street, which has raised the ire of residents wanting to protect tree canopy in town.
“It’s important to me, but it’s important to all of us,” said Ann Cooper, who led the delegation asking council to reconsider the current planned design.
Cooper points to Collingwood council declaring a climate crisis back in 2019.
“It appears that this council has dropped the ball. We have to maintain our canopy,” she said. “With chopping down mature trees, it’s defeating the earlier commitment.”
“We need to press pause,” said Kathleen Knoll, who also made remarks during the deputation.
The 1.3-kilometre stretch of Sixth Street between Hurontario and High Streets is due for watermain replacement to improve water supply and pressure to the western side of Collingwood via the Stewart Road Pump Station, and while the town is making those necessary repairs, it has reconsidered the current design of the streetscape.
Current project timelines will see the entire project completed by 2030 in a phased approach, with Hurontario to Oak Street expected in 2026 and Oak to High Street expected in 2027.
The first proposed design included a 1.5-metre sidewalk on the north side and a three-metre, two-way, multi-use bicycle and pedestrian track located on the south side of the road.
However, the proposal was criticized as unsafe by residents and the town's active transportation advisory committee because of the two-way bicycle track, prompting reconsideration of the design.
Town staff brought forward a new design in May to add one-way cycling tracks to each side of the street following opposition to the first design.
In June, resident Leslie Coutts started a petition to save the Sixth St. trees, which has blown past 3,000 signatures. About three dozen residents marched along Sixth St. in protest of the tree removal on June 17.
On June 3, council approved a tree replacement plan in response to the information that the latest design would necessitate the removal of 36 trees, which would see two trees planted in town for every one cut down. Property owners on Sixth St. and on adjacent side streets will be offered free trees for their private yards.
In July, councillors voted down a motion to reconsider their course of action. All councillors received a report by certified arborist Alison Bond with Envision-Tatham which evaluated the state of the 39 trees lining the north side of Sixth St.
According to the report, only six of the trees that line the north side of Sixth St. are in “good” condition. Fourteen of the trees are in “fair” condition, while about half of the trees – or 19 of them – are in “poor” condition.
During her deputation, Cooper raised issues such as the safety of one-way separated cycling tracks and the health benefits of keeping mature trees in communities, arguing that there is “no value” in changing the current bicycle lanes on the street. She pointed out that separated bike lanes will need to be plowed separately in the winter, which she said would likely increase costs.
“Council’s considered this a few times now. We’ll see where it all goes,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin after the deputation.
Following the meeting, when asked about her next steps on the issue, Cooper said that the major public interest in the Sixth St. trees means it’s possible it could become an election issue in 2026.
“I’d like people to know it’s two years and five days from today,” she said.
