Charleswood-Tuxedo Candidates Debate Part 2 (continued more)

The third question posed to the candidates at the Shaftesbury High School debate. video is here.

Question - What do you think are the greatest infrastructure challenges currently facing the ward and what are your proposed solutions?

Dashi Zargani said that Kenaston will be even more filled with traffic once IKEA is open. He believes that Kenaston should be widened to four lanes in each direction. He also thinks the extension of Kenaston needs to be looked at. He believes that roads should be re-paved each year with no increase in taxes. He also mentioned green spaces and finding a balance. In the second go round, he said the impact of IKEA needs to be looked at and the benefits of development and taxes shouldn't be the only consideration. He believes that the revival of downtown is necessary with a variety of methods including taxation. He thinks they need to find a way to keep business open after 5 in the area with things such as free parking. The city shouldn't be a doughnut, he said.

Timothy Martin said the greatest challenge is to preserve what is great about the ward even while the city grows.He says commercial sprawl in mature areas needs to be limited. he is in favour of extending the Charleswood Parkway to bypass more residential areas of the community. He believes it will help take a load off Kenaston. In the the follow-up, he said that downtown revitalization must take place because there are tremendous social and financial consequences in doing nothing.

Jarret Hannah said that he has major concerns on the streets in Charleswood that head out to Wilkes Avenue in terms of safety. He believes that Wilkes Avenue will increasingly become a problem. He said when IKEA goes up, it will only be a greater issue. In the return round, he said that the issue of Kenaston traffic had to be addressed. He said lobbying the federal government and First Nations on the Kapyong Barracks in terms of reaching a settlement. The issue of rapid transit and what form it takes also needs to be addressed.

Livio Ciarelli said that drainage, traffic and development are the main issues that he has heard in the ward. He indicated that he believed the Charleswood Parkway extension would help address some of the traffic concerns. He wants to divert developers from old Charleswood to Wilkes south. That development he wants to see buffered with a 7 kilometre park. In the follow-up, he said that Kenaston is a huge problem. He said the city caved on IKEA. He indicated that the choice should have been with the community.

Wendy Lenton said that the city has not maintained roads and that there is backlog in infrastructure improvements. She said that road construction crews could be more productive working in the evenings. In the return, she said that the city needs to discuss the merits of development. She said Charleswood has a suburban/rural character.

Paula Havixbeck said that the issues depend on what part of the ward you are talking about. She said roads, traffic and the William R. Clement Parkway are all priorities. She also mentioned rapid transit, drainage and the Kapyong Barracks. She says businesses are concerned about whether to stay with IKEA moving in. She said a beutification program and a move to make Charleswood like Corydon Avenue are some other areas she details. She says a 12 year plan is necessary. In the follow-up, she sees IKEA as being a positive for the city in a recession. She also talked about Centreport. She says that limiting truck traffic in peak times is an option for Kenaston.

Steve Szego said that IKEA and Kapyong Barracks are issues that will affects things in the ward. He also mentions that Charleswood Parkway should be extended. he says that traffic issues needed to remedied in the ward. In the follow-up, he said that funding is hard to get and the province must be lobbied in terms of getting enough to make a coherent plan work.