Downtown Windsor BIA spending $19K to light alleys and improve safety in the core
Four Windsor alleys will soon be a lot brighter.
The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association has pledged $19,000 as the first step of a four-point plan to illuminate some of the city's darkest corners in hopes of making businesses, residents and visitors feel safer.
"After a lot of talks we've come to the conclusion something needs to be done — and needs to be done now," explained DWBIA chair Larry Horwitz. "Our focus is going to put lights throughout the dark alleys that make people fearful."
The initiative will target the following four areas:
- Between Victoria Avenue and Pelissier Street north of Wyandotte to Park Street
- Between Pelissier Street and Ouellette Avenue north of Maiden Lane to Park Street
- From Ouellette Avenue to Freedom Way south of University Avenue to Park Street
- From Ouellette Avenue to Goyeau Street north of Chatham Street to Pitt Street
"We're excited to see this kind of an investment in our infrastructure," said Barry Horrobin, director of planning and physical resources for Windsor police, who are partnering on the project.
He described the lighting initiative as a "very good first step" that will involve alley walkthroughs as part of the planning.
"You're not just going to slap up a bunch of lights and do it randomly," he said. "A lot of thought goes into it."
Drug use a problem downtown
Jay Verspeelt works and lives in downtown Windsor and said he's happy to hear lights are going up, but wasn't convinced they would solve the underlying issues that lead to crime in the core.
"I don't know how much it's going to help, I mean, how inclined are you to walk down an alley anyway?" he asked. "But if it's going to keep people safe that's great."
Verspeelt said a safe injection site is what downtown really needs to keep people using heroin and other drugs off the street.
Horwitz is hoping the other three prongs of the DWBIA' s plan will help address those concerns.
The organization is talking about eventually adding cameras along with the lights. It will also be teaming up with police to host a workshop in January aimed at preventing crime through environmental design and will be working with the Windsor Essex Community Health Centre to set up more needle kiosks in the core.
An "enhanced alley cleanup" with Good Neighbour Services could also be in the works to pick up debris too large for city crews to remove.
Inspiration for other neighbourhoods
The move comes after the city voted not to support the alley enhancement program as part of its community improvement plan, but Horwitz said the decision was motivated more by the concerns of downtown merchants.
"We were disappointed council didn't feel the alleys are something they should work on immediately," he said. "But ... we hope maybe this will spread throughout the city because you can't have business, you can't have a great city unless everyone feels safe and secure."
