BCS to pay to reroute Moulton Hill Road
Bishop’s College School (BCS) held an information session for residents on Thursday, Nov. 8 at the Peter G. Holt Library to discuss a redesign of its campus, which would include closing off the section of Moulton Hill Road in front of the College.
The project would require building a new road (paid for by BCS) off Saint-francis Street.
According to BCS Head of School Tyler Lewis, Moulton Hill Road is one of the most dangerous sections in the borough and the one where the most fines are handed out.
“It would be irresponsible to ignore it,” he declared to the roughly 60 residents who attended the session. Lewis would like to restrict Moulton Hill to local traffic only between the Saint-francis bridge and Atto Street.
The road would be blocked off at its center so that the bridge could only be accessible via Saint-francis Street.
Several citizens were worried by the plan because of how narrow Saint-francis is. They also added that they have been asking for safer pedestrian access on the street for years. According to Borough of Lennoxville President Claude Charron, sidewalks are very expensive, but the council is looking into it.
Local resident Robert Lumley, who lives in the area and uses Moulton Hill Road daily, believes there would be a minimal effect on the residents coming down Moulton Hill.
“BCS is trying to respect the community while protecting its students and planning ahead,” he said. Another resident, Caroline Sabljic, estimated that closing a portion of Moulton Hill would
In addition to marking the 100th anniversary of the end of World War One, the Remembrance Day ceremony in Lennoxville also unveiled a new plaque added to the cenotaph, honouring soldiers who fought and died in the war in Afghanistan.
The plaque was unveiled by retired Canadian military surgeon Marc Dauphin, originally from Montreal, who now lives in Coaticook.
In 2007, Dauphin served on a oneyear mission in Germany at a transit point, treating American and Canadian soldiers injured in Afghanistan. He was then sent to Afghanistan and placed in charge of the Role 3 Multinational Hospital in Kandahar.
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bring a lot of expenses and would be inconvenient to residents during the construction.
“There would be a huge loss of greenspace, with the river and the bogs, affecting wildlife. Although BCS is paying for it, there will be a lot of hidden costs, with snow removal and hydro lines,” she noted. She added that the project would only divert the problem. “It will only make Saint-francis and the Atto area busier. The traffic is already backed up and there should not be traffic in a residential area with small children and young families.”
Lewis ensured that the project would be supervised by Nature Cantons-de-l’est, an organization dedicated to nature conversation.
Engineers present at the session explained that the project would be approved by the Ministry of the Environment before the new development took place.
A resident who frequents the campus regularly also noted that “students use both sides of the road to get to the fields and go into town. The road is often used by cars and trucks which puts the students at risk since they do not have access to sidewalks. I agree with the initiative because it will protect students from potential risks.” The citizen added that police presence is not strong enough to truly enforce the speed limit, and hoped that talks of changes would at least give exposure to the dangers of the area.
Speeding has long been an issue on Moulton Hill Road, which is narrow and long, just like Saintfrancis Street. It is a 30 km/h zone from the train tracks to the stop sign in front of the bridge, covering the entire BCS campus area. However, the speed limits change drastically on the way down the hill, from 70 to 50 to 30. Additional signage was installed in 2016 to help reduce speeding in the area but no significant improvement has been noted.