On Monday, May 7th, 2007 at 10:30 a.m., a meeting organized by City of Guelph staff was held at the newly closed area of Essex Street to address difficulties raised over the closure of Essex Street. Present at the meeting was yourself as well as other City of Guelph staff together with businesses and landowners of the east end of Essex Street (between Dublin and Gordon Streets).
As business and landowners on Essex Street, we feel our rights have been violated and processes set out by the City of Guelph were not followed. We were not consulted or aware of the planned street closure or the review process of same. When it became obvious by the poured curb in late summer of 2006 that the street was to be closed, a petition was put forward for the re-opening of the street.
During the meeting on May 7th, City staff was queried as to why Essex Street was closed. The response was the now closed intersection was deemed a high risk one and did not meet current engineering standards. Staff cited a study (unknown to Essex Street businesses) that was completed and its conclusions that the now closed intersection was apparently used improperly by 25 percent of vehicle traffic i.e. exiting against a do not enter sign. As business and landowners with 5 to 20 years on Essex Street we can attest that simply is not so. We feel the study is flawed.
The closure of Essex Street has affected accessibility to all of our businesses. There have been difficulties with larger delivery vehicles trying to turn around on Essex Street. By closing Essex Street we have witnessed an increased use of the Essex and Dublin intersection and accidents there. Also, vehicles are now cutting through the private parking lot at Wellington Chiropractic. To be clear, the east end of Essex Street between Dublin and Gordon Streets is entirely commercial in its use. The closure has effectively cut our businesses’ accessibility.
The proposal by City staff at the meeting to rectify the turnaround area only addresses one concern while raising yet another. The proposal would see two large mature maple trees cut down. This seems counterproductive.
We know the process to consult with those affected with the closing of Essex Street was not followed. Not one of us received any kind of notification or request for input. Further, the information used to decide to close Essex Street is flawed. We respectfully and unilaterally request that Essex Street remain open at the Essex Street and Gordon intersection and we look forward to your reconsideration of this matter and to hearing from you further in this regard. Essex Street Merchants