Lowville Park will partially reopen on Monday, June 29, 2020.

News 100 yellowBy Staff

June 24th, 2020

BURLINGTON, ON

 

Lowville sign - orange aLowville Park will partially reopen on Monday, June 29, 2020.

Visiting Lowville Park will look different than it did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; the City of Burlington is putting measures in place to help visitors have a safe park experience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Parking

Parking lot capacity has been reduced to 50 per cent to allow for physical distance spacing and prevent overcrowding. The entrance will be monitored and vehicles may be turned away when parking has reached capacity. Street parking is not permitted, parking enforcement will be in effect. Illegally parked vehicles will be tagged and/or towed.

A river runs through the park where the salmon spawn and children get to play.

Bronte Creek runs through the park where the salmon spawn and children get to play.

What’s open and closed in Lowville Park
Washrooms will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. Water is not potable and visitors are reminded to bring their own drinking water.

The playground portion of the park remains closed. Staff levels are reduced so please clean up your area and put waste in receptacles or take it home for disposal.
No picnic permits are being issued at this time to comply with municipal and provincial state of emergency group gathering restrictions.

 

Reduce the spread

Rob Peachey, on the left, Manager Parks and Open Spaces for the city, talks through some solutions to managing the very large weekend crowds.

View of the park from thee steps of the school house.

Visitors are reminded to continue to be vigilant about public health practices and provincial directives to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including:

Maintaining 2 metre physical distance from others
Gathering in groups of 10 or fewer
Staying home if you feel sick
Washing and sanitizing hands before, during and after visiting the park.

The Lowville Park is a neighbourhood park during the week in the off season. During the summer it is a place where large families gather and cook meals on hibachis and enjoy their food.  On occasion there are several large families that become an event for everyone.

There will have to be some adjusting as we give people a place to enjoy themselves, respect the safety requirements and make allowances for each other.

Walt Rickli, often the spokesperson for the Lowville community, reported on their meeting with the Mayor and the ward councilor. “A number of Lowville residents”, reported Rickli, ” had expressed concerns about the potential for over-crowding, traffic management and the ability to adhere to Covid regulations, as we lead into Canada Day.  As a result of these concerns, the city advised us that over the short term they will be employing the follow measures for weekends and holidays when the park is most used:

Lowville Regulars - Rickli +

Walt Rickli, on the left, is often the spokesperson for the Lowville community.

“The city will be hiring two off-duty police officers.  One will be situated at the corner of Guelph Line and Lowville Park Road to control traffic coming in and out of the park.  If the park is full, traffic will not be allowed to enter Lowville Park Rd.  The second officer will be patrolling the park to ensure visitors are abiding by Covid social distancing requirements as well as park rules.  There will also be several Park Ambassadors to help out.

“The parking lot will only be permitted to fill to 50% of capacity.  To ensure this, there will be a parking enforcement/by-law officer at the entrance to Lowville Park.  As well, 1/2 the parking lot will be barricaded to prevent parking there.

“The children’s playground will be cordoned off to abide by current Covid regulations. Garbage cans which were removed during the Covid lockdown, will be returned.

“And finally, as per provincial Covid regulations, the washrooms will be manned and supervised to limit the number of people allowed in at any given time, and will be frequently cleaned and sanitized.

“During the meeting, a few points were raised that the city will be getting back to us to confirm. First are the hours the park will be manned on holidays and weekends ?  Residents advised that traffic on weekends and holidays often goes from 7:30 am to well into the evening.  The second point was regarding picnic tables.  Currently picnic tables are all grouped together which does not facilitate social distancing.  A suggestion was to remove some of the tables to ensure all are appropriately distanced from each other.

“Over-crowding has been an ongoing issue for Lowville Park, so the Mayor and Ward Counselor also advised us that a pilot project is in the works to help ease the stress on the park environment and the surrounding community over the long term.  They are looking at following a similar approach to what Conservation Halton has done with their parks, which would include installing a gatehouse with an arm among other things. This will replace the above measures once Covid regulations are reduced.”

 

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