The Municipality of Shawville installed a new signalled pedestrian crosswalk last week where the PPJ crosses Centre Street, near Pontiac High School.

There was already a designated pedestrian crossing at that location, marked by a sign and some faded paint on the road, but there has been concern over safety at the crossing for a few years due to the high volume of cars that use the road, a provincial highway connecting Otter Lake to Highway 148.

The new crosswalk includes a sign with a flashing light that makes it more visible to drivers.

“We’ve been trying for, I’m going to say, three years, to get something put in there,” Shawville mayor Bill McCleary said. “The school was very concerned about it, and they started the actual request.”

Sid Sharpe is a graduating student at Pontiac High School. They live with cerebral palsy, and so uses either a cane or a mobility scooter to get around.

Sharpe has been advocating for the installation of a safer crosswalk for some time. They said the crosswalk at the intersection with the PPJ is known for being dangerous, and described how students will often congregate at the intersection to cross as a group in an effort to stay safe.

Sharpe said they have had to wait for as many as nine cars to . . .

pass before one would stop to let them cross the street.

“It doesn’t help that the crosswalk is on a highway street so a lot of cars come very quickly, and they don’t see kids,” Sharpe said.

Sharpe is a member of the MRC’s youth council, which last year requested the MRC pass a resolution in support of municipal efforts to get the province’s transport ministry (MTQ) to put up a sign with flashing lights at the crosswalk.

While the MTQ never took this on, Sharpe is thrilled the safe crosswalk has finally been installed anyway.

“I’m very excited for everyone I know,” Sharpe said. “My little cousin has trouble walking to school because of the lack of signage or people not stopping. So I’m just excited for everyone to be able to go to school independently.”

McCleary explained getting the permits to install the crosswalk was challenging because the road is owned by the province, not the municipality, so putting a crosswalk in, something the municipality could normally do without much fuss, required the permission from Quebec’s transport ministry.

McCleary explained the municipality had a meeting with the MTQ about the crosswalks in October of 2022.

The ministry conducted a survey of the area but deemed the traffic to be inadequate to require a signalled crosswalk, and refused the request.

McCleary pointed out that the ministry conducted its survey of the area between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., when students who would usually use the crosswalk were already in class.

In April of 2023, the Municipality of Shawville drafted a resolution requesting permission to have the school board pay to install signage on Centre Street near Argue Street to alert drivers that students may be crossing the street in the area, but the request was also refused.

McCleary explained they couldn’t wait any longer due to major safety concerns, and the municipality greenlighted the purchase and installation of its equipment with each pair of crosswalk signs costing $6,500.

Last month McCleary was assured by representatives of the MTQ that they “won’t take them down.”

Sharpe said the municipality’s recent efforts to improve accessibility in Shawville, including the new wheelchair swing at the Mill Dam Park, warms their heart.

“As a kid, I didn’t really get that opportunity to be included in activities like that, so I’d always be sitting on the sideline,” Sharpe said. “So it’s just one step closer to feeling like you belong and being included in everything, it’s great.”

According to McCleary, the crosswalk on Centre Street is the first of three being installed in Shawville this month, with another set to be installed on Clarendon Street for people crossing to Mill Dam Park and the third on Centre Street in front of Dr. S.E. McDowell Elementary School.