Petition urges Transit Windsor to halt bus route relocation, despite city's plan to proceed

A flyer designed by Marc Sementilli outlining his points against moving a Windsor, Ont. bus route from Clover Avenue to Radcliffe Avenue. (Sanjay Maru/CTV News Windsor)

Nearly 300 people have signed a petition calling for Transit Windsor to hold off on moving a bus route alongside a residential road in East Riverside — but the city is moving forward with the plan anyway.

The petition, submitted by Ward 7 Coun. Angelo Marignani to the rest of council Monday, has 293 signatures from people who are against a transit route which currently runs along Clover Avenue being moved to nearby Radcliffe Avenue.

Residents opposing the change argue that Radcliffe Avenue is too narrow to accommodate city buses safely.

They are raising concerns about potential accidents due to buses navigating tight spaces and the invasion of residents' privacy with bus stops positioned close to bedroom windows.

"The other problem is the reduction of parking with all of the townhomes that are there," said Radcliff Avenue resident Mark Sementilli.

He added, "We all acknowledge public transit needs to happen but we're hoping for roads such as Banwell to be utilized better, since they're wider and the infrastructure is there to accommodate a bus as opposed to Radcliffe which is more residential."

The transition from Clover to Radcliffe is slated for June.

According to City of Windsor engineer Mark Winterton, a change to the route would "require reconsideration of council as it has been previously approved by council and the transit board."

"The new route that is being implemented was identified during the development of Transit Windsor’s More Than Transit – Transit Master Plan," said Winterton, who added the route was designed through extensive public consultation. "This route provides service to 1,000 new properties along the Radcliff and McNorton corridors, filling in a transit service area gap."

Winterton said the new route was approved by the city's Environment, Transportation & Public Safety Standing Committee and Transit Windsor's board of directors in February 2023 "as part of Transit Windsor’s 2023 Service Plan and overall operating budget.”

The service plan was subsequently endorsed by city council on April 3, 2023 as part of the City of Windsor’s overall operating budget.

Nonetheless, Sementilli insists the city must improve its responsiveness to residents' concerns.

"It's pretty egregious that they just dismissed all of our feedback," he said.