Friends of Chippewa Park renew calls for road improvements
By: Clint Fleury, Local Journalism Initiative ReporterSource: TBnewswatch.com
THUNDER BAY – The Friends of Chippewa Park is bringing hard data to city council on why the city should take an interest in repaving the main road.
The group is requesting that council have administration cost out a range of options for creating a smooth travel surface on the main road to Chippewa Park.
Lorraine Lortie, president of the Friends of Chippewa Park, told Newswatch they hope their request will be included in the 2026 capital budget.
After a request to city council in 2024 to include the road maintenance in the 2025 capital budget was denied, the organization took it upon themselves to purchase and install a traffic counter to prove to council how much the road is used.
According to a letter sent to council, 151,210 vehicles entered or exited the park at its west entrance over a period of 224 days.
It was noted that the data was collected between Feb. 24 to Mar. 23, and April 18 to Oct. 31 during peak usage of the park this year.
The data was then applied to the fall and winter months, during which the Friends of Chippewa Park projected an additional 57,475 vehicles crossing the west entrance, bringing the total number of vehicles over 12 months to more than 208,000.
“We just wanted to underline, for city council and for ourselves, how much that road is used and the issues that are coming out from the state of the road to ask for the improvements to be done so that we can get people out to the park and enjoying it, as much as possible,” Lortie said.
She said having the “hard numbers” makes a difference and helps people “see the light” on the number of patrons to the park.
“This is hard data based on this equipment that we bought. So, really, there’s no denying it when we see this kind of thing that the park is well used,” Lortie said.
The letter outlines that the city’s roads division has done pothole filling and patchwork over the last two years, which smoothed out some areas of the road. But, as the surface asphalt continues to deteriorate and crack, creating more rough surfaces, the asphalt will need to be replaced.
The Friends suggest that a sub-grade or base of the road is the least expensive solution. They note that the road from the Sandy Beach swimming area was returned to a gravel road and is much smoother than the paved road into the park. They say it could be an option to consider as the first of a number of years of rehabilitation for the main road.
Lortie said rehabilitating the road aligns with the city’s attraction pillar in the draft Smart Growth Action Plan under strategic investment in recreation and culture.
“One of the things that the city is certainly looking at is how to attract tourists to Thunder Bay. Especially right now, I think more people want to travel within Canada. We want to be marketing Thunder Bay as a destination. And one of the things that we can do is also market the park as one of the many things that there is to do in Thunder Bay,” Lortie said.
“Anything that we can do to make that experience a positive one for tourists. And let’s not forget the locals who support the park and all the facilities every year. So, it just makes sense. It’s a win-win situation.”
