Wolfville petition aims to get cyclists off sidewalk

A petition in Wolfville is trying to get cyclists off the sidewalk and onto the roads.

Joan Boutilier is the one who started the petition. She’s legally blind and has just five per cent of her vision.

"I don't see them coming. And I’m worried about being knocked over or being hit by a bicycle, coming along the sidewalk at high speed that I either don't see or don't hear," she says.

To date, more then 250 people have signed the petition and Boutilier says people have been very supportive of the initiative.

"Many seniors, when I’ve been in the post office with the petition, have run over and said, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you.' Several people have told me they've had close encounters and three people have told me they've been knocked down by bicycles," she says.

Copies of the petition are available at stores around Wolfville.

The petition is also asking council to work on bike lanes because the shoulders of some roads are cracked, gravelled and often filled with potholes.

Cyclist Jim Shatford says he has taken the sidewalk, but only because the bike lanes are narrow and dangerous.

"Because it's much safer than being on the road. I try and avoid, as much as I can, the sidewalks here in town by taking some of the back roads, but there's a few sections where I have ridden on the sidewalk. And I know it's against the law," he says.

Shatford thinks the petition is a good idea, but believes a faster solution would be to finish a shared-use trail from Wolfville to Greenwich.

Boutilier plans on presenting the petition to town council in October.