For medical student Heather Smith, Sudbury's downtown is "kind of an eyesore."
Smith, a medical student at Laurentian University, was one of about 50 people to share ideas on March 19 on how to make the Elgin Street Greenway a sustainable, active and balanced corridor.
“Right now downtown Sudbury is kind of an eyesore," Smith said. "(The project) is a really good idea, and it will make the downtown area more appealing to people."
Participants were divided into teams to brainstorm ideas for the project.
Some of the concepts include the need to prioritize the safety of commuters; the need for the trail to connect various parts of downtown Sudbury; the need for a lot of greening in the area; and the need for Wi-Fi along the Greenway.
Smith said the realization of any one of the ideas would be a welcome improvement to the downtown area.
While opinions varied on the city's core, the majority of those in attendance backed the Elgin Street Greeway project. Should current plans for the Greenway stay as they are, when completed, it will be a one-kilometer trail stretching from Laurentian University’s School of Architecture location at Elgin and Larch, to the Nelson Street footbridge.
The Greenway is supposed to improve the look and feel of the western edge of the core, buffer the downtown from the rail lands and provide a corridor for pedestrians and cyclists to commute along its length.
Jason Ferrigan, a senior planner with the city, was on hand throughout the day to listen to suggestions from the public on the project. Despite the diversity of suggestions, one common interest shared by many locals, was the need for the Elgin Street Greenway to be unique to Sudbury.
“When on the Greenway, they don’t want to feel like they are in Ottawa or Toronto. They want to feel like they are in Sudbury,” he said.
With a $3.7-million budget, the Elgin Street Greenway is just one of 17 initiatives in the City’s Downtown Master Plan to revitalize Downtown Sudbury over the next 10 years and beyond.
Ferrigan said while part of the funding for the Greenway will come from the federal and provincial governments, private-sector sponsorship will also be sourced.
This is where Susan Thompson comes in.
Thompson is head of the Downtown Village Development Corporation, a non-profit organisation that identifies and pursues development opportunities to stimulate business and investment in Sudbury's historic core.
She said her organization played a crucial role in getting the city to prioritize the Greenway over other initiatives. In turn, that will attract much-needed business and investment to the area. Thompson said urbanization of the downtown area is also important for Sudbury if the city means to compete for skilled labour with much larger cities like Toronto.
“Graduates are attracted to urban cities,” Thompson said. “It's as simple as that.”
Construction on the first phase of the Greenway project from the Nelson Street bridge to Minto Street is expected to begin this year.
Thompson said it will take about three years for the entire project to be completed.
For more information on the Greenway and the Downtown Master Plan, visit www.growdowntown.com.
