If you’re just tuning in, the debate over saving the trees that line Sixth St. will heat up this coming Monday, when council will consider whether or not to change course on the street’s redesign.
After countless letters, a petition signed by nearly 1,800 residents and a walking protest on June 17, residents and councillors seem split on how they feel about the changes, and what happens next will come down to a vote at the council table on July 8.
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’s reconsidering the current design of the streetscape.
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 took their second kick at the can for a redesign of the proposed design in May, to add one-way cycling tracks to each side of the street following opposition to the first design this past fall.
All iterations of the streetscape plan include at least some tree removal, town staff told CollingwoodToday back in June.
Also in June, resident Leslie Coutts started a petition to save the Sixth St. trees, which as of this writing currently sits at 1,780 signatures. Coutts, along with about three dozen residents, marched along Sixth St. in protest of the tree removal on June 17.
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.
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. will be offered free trees for their private yards.
Also in June, the Collingwood Climate Action Team put out a press release noting they were in favour of the current plan with bike lanes on either side of the street and the tree replacement plan approved by councillors.
Last week, Tobias Effinger, senior arborist at Arboreal Inc. weighed in on the situation, noting that a boulevard is a hostile place to plant a tree and there was no guarantee all 36 of the Sixth St. trees will make it through the reconstruction of the street. He suggested that the town could start a five-hectare forest and put trees in the 'bank' when they're lost to construction.
Originally put forward by Mayor Yvonne Hamlin, the motion to be discussed at the July 8 council meeting is to approve a modified design for the street, which will include 3.3-metre vehicle lanes, the 1.5-metre sidewalk to remain on the north side of the street and a three-metre off-road two-way cycle track on the south side of the street. Hamlin's proposal is nearly the same as what was proposed originally and criticized by the active transportation committee.
The motion also calls on the design to maximize the preservation of existing, established trees. Trees that are necessary to remove would still be replaced at at least a two-to-one ratio, with the planting to take place on public land along Sixth, on private land on Sixth, and/or on public land on adjacent side streets.
Council’s regular meeting takes place on Monday, July 8 at 2 p.m. Any members of the public may attend in person in council chambers at Collingwood town hall, or virtually by Zoom webinar. The meeting will also be livestreamed on the town’s YouTube channel here.
