Province supports Windsor waterfront walkway project

Hants West MLA says he wants Lake Pisiquid protected from highway twinning, aboiteau upgrades

During an active transportation announcement on Windsor’s waterfront, Hants West MLA Chuck Porter said he’s hoping to province will listen to resident’s concerns before making any drastic changes to the aboiteau along Highway 101.

Porter said the provincial Department of Agriculture is already consulting with area farmers about the project, but he doesn’t know when a public meeting will take place. He’s hopeful one will be held soon.

“Maybe 50 years ago the causeway shouldn’t have been put there, but it was, and people have adapted to it, built around it; it’s there,” Porter said.

“Now we have a lake that’s used for recreation, the canoe club, paddlers, and businesses, big businesses like Ski Martock use it,” he continued.

“It’s not as simple as it sounds to just open it up.”

Porter said he’d like to see a public forum held in Windsor, similar to the one that was held when the question of tolling highways to pay for twinning was being debated by the province.

“From the people I’ve been talking to thus far, nobody’s been jumping up and down... to open this up to salt water and changing the water level,” he said. “We need to really look at what our options are because we don’t want to see what we have here change drastically.”

Porter said he knows that environmental activists and others would like to see the Avon River restored to open flow, to allow for full fish passage, but he said there are alternative ways to allow fish in.

“We need to protect what’s here without lowering water levels or allowing salt water in,” he said.

Currently funding and planning has only been committed to Highway 101 from Three Mile Plains to Falmouth. The aboiteau portion of the project remains up in the air as the province continues to consult stakeholders.

“We need to seek something out that works for everybody,” Porter said.

Windsor’s chief administrative officer ( CAO) Louis Coutinho said the town hasn’t been consulted yet.

Cameron Hartley, who owns

COLIN CHISHOLM Windsor Mayor Anna Allen and Troy Burgess, the town’s superintendent of operations and traffic authority, discuss the waterfront connector prior to a funding announcement from Hants West MLA Chuck Porter.

COLIN CHISHOLM From left, Windsor Mayor Anna Allen, Hants West MLA Chuck Porter and Mary Ruffell, owner of Tatum’s Fashion and Bridal and member of the Windsor Business Enhancement Society, speak about the importance of connecting the downtown to the waterfront.