Sydney Sharpe drives her new mobility scooter west along the paved PPJ trail that follows the ridge overlooking Shawville, and stops at the trail’s intersection with Centre Street, a spot she says needs a pedestrian crosswalk with flashing lights.

Nicknamed Syd the Kid by family and friends, the grade 11 student at Pontiac High School turns 17 next week. Born with cerebral palsy, her mobility is limited. She has leg braces and uses a cane to help her get around, and relies on her parents to drop her off and pick her up at school.

In April, through the generosity of a family friend, Sydney was given a mobility scooter, which she says has made a big difference to her independence.

“It meant I could experience more things in my daily life. I could drive myself to work if I wanted. I could go to the ice cream stand. I could go to my grandmother’s for dinner, or to the grocery store if my mom needed. So, it just helped me gain some more independence in my life, and autonomy,” Sydney said.

“It’s a sense of freedom that I have never really experienced because, in my life, I have always depended on someone,” she said.

Her hope was that it would be a freedom that would include being able to get herself to school and back. It was a trip that would involve crossing Centre Street at the top of the hill where the PPJ trail passes through. So, one morning, she tried it out and encountered a whole new limitation on her mobility.

At the designated pedestrian crossing point, waiting on the sidewalk for a pause in the traffic, Sydney says eight cars passed through before, finally, a ninth stopped to let her cross.

“There is a sign but that doesn’t really help. And even though there is a cross walk, cars still don’t stop. And it’s even worse with the bus strike” she said, describing one of the effects of more people driving their children to school.

“The school has made complaints about it, and I think the town has too, but it just hasn’t been dealt with,” she says.

“So, I don’t ride my mobility scooter to school because it is unsafe going from the PPJ trail across the highway,” said Sydney.

What in Shawville is known as Centre Street is also provincial Hwy 303, a heavily-traveled north-south artery that cuts right through the middle of town before intersecting with Hwy. 148.

Shawville mayor Bill McCleary says there has been concern over safety at the crossing for a few years but that it’s not a matter the town can solve on its own as management of Hwy 303 is a provincial responsibility.

“We had a meeting with two engineers with the MTQ (Ministry of Transport of Quebec) to see if they could put up a pedestrian crosswalk, whether it had flashing lights or whatever, to slow the traffic or hopefully have the traffic stop when somebody was there,” the mayor told THE EQUITY on Friday.

“Apparently you can’t put up school zone signs because the school is not visible from the road,” said McCleary in a voice that revealed not just a little frustration with the absurdity of the situation.

“I had a call from Deb Stephens (then principal of Pontiac High School) a couple of times. About two months ago Deb contacted me again saying the school board was willing to pay for and erect signage. I told her we’d have to get permission from the MTQ to put signs up, and she asked if Council would pass a resolution of support for this and send it off to the MTQ, which we did. That was two months ago,” said McCleary.

“Both the school board and the municipality fully support the need to improve the cross-walk area for the safety of our students and community,” said PHS teacher Darcy Findlay in an email to THE EQUITY.

“Unfortunately, at this time there’s no new update on the process as we’re waiting for more information from the MTQ to proceed,” he said.

Meanwhile, another effort is underway. It turns out that Sydney sits on the MRC Youth Council, a body composed of youths representing municipalities across MRC Pontiac for the purpose of providing advice to the Council of Mayors on matters of importance to Pontiac youth.

“Warden Toller came to PHS and asked who wanted to be on the council, and we gave our names and phone numbers, and she called me and the next thing I know, I’m on the council,” explains Sydney.

“The council speaks for the youth of the Pontiac,” she says. “We have mainly been focusing on ending the bus strike and creating a youth forum for mental health and other health things that affect the youth.”

In early June, the Youth Council asked the MRC to pass a resolution adding its support to the school board and municipal efforts to get the MTQ to put up a sign, “but with a flashing light so people would see it up ahead,” Sydney adds.

Last Wednesday, the MRC Council of Mayors passed such a resolution.

“I am just happy that is finally getting recognition that it is a problem,” Sydney told THE EQUITY.

“I just want to see the walkers going to PHS be safe on the road and no accidents happen.”

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