My wife, Wanda Thompson, worked with children her whole career, first as a child-care worker, later as a teacher. She has always looked for ways to make the world safer for kids.
Tobermory offends her sensibilities. It just doesn’t feel safe for adults, let alone for children. The nasty combination of blind hills, narrow pavement and rows of parked cars makes her cringe. She knows that sooner or later, it won’t be just a near thing with everybody laughing it off after a near disaster. One of these days, there will be a momentary break in traffic and some idiot driver will get up to the speed limit over one of Tobermory’s blind hills and mow down a row of pedestrians.
“Stupid driver,” we’ll all say; “too bad about all the unfortunate pedestrians”.
Unless, of course, those pedestrians are our children…
Wanda says that safety should be our highest priority. Safety for us; safety for the tourists. The most obvious threat to that safety is the way we jam two lanes of traffic and a row of parked cars into 19 feet of pavement and then throw in pedestrians and cyclists for good measure. With blind hills just to keep things interesting.
We urgently need sidewalks and bike lanes, she insists. They should be paid for with parking revenues, for two reasons. One reason is that bike lanes and sidewalks will make it much safer for tourists. The other reason is that it’s tourist traffic the locals need protection from.
The highest priority, she says, is Harpur Drive in Tobermory. It’s narrow, heavily used by pedestrians and has two blind hills. Bay Street North, from Earl Street to the Liquor Store is also bad, as are Big Tub Road and Grant Watson Drive.
She feels that sidewalks are much more important than parking. What do we care about — cars or people?
Proper accommodation for pedestrians and cyclists is not an oddball request. Most of the world’s most successful destinations are best visited on foot.
Venice has no vehicles except gondolas. The Italian Riviera villages of Cinque Terra are pedestrian-only. You arrive by train and then walk. Florence discourages cars without actually banning them.
Even automobile-obsessed America has a lot of places that work best on foot or by bicycle.
Mackinac Island, Michigan, allows no motorized vehicles. Cycling there is glorious. Sanibel Island, Florida, has two rules; one: pedestrians have the right of way; two: cyclists have the right of way over everything except pedestrians. Monterey, California offers similar opportunities: you can drive if you want to, but why would you want to?
Some places are best experienced from a car. Most of Texas, for example. But I don’t think the Bruce Peninsula is one of those places. The most interesting parts of the Peninsula are best experienced up close. So pedestrians and cyclists are our most important customer; cars are just the way they get here.
Tobermory and Lion’s Head will both need to make a choice over the next few years. Do we cater to cars? Or do we concentrate on catering to people?
What would catering to people look like?
One thing is certain — it would involve a lot more sidewalks and cycle lanes. They wouldn’t even need to be paved, just separated from traffic.
Postscript for 2021 and beyond: When we’re looking for ways to spend paid parking revenues from Lion’s Head, I would suggest Bannister Hill and Isthmus Bay Road would be a good start. After that, how about good cycle lanes to Ferndale and Barrow Bay?
