Jackson Park-Brookdale Neighbourhood
Click the numbers below to explore the design concepts
Fairbairn & Highland
Chesterfield & Downie
Wolsely & Donegal
Parkhill & Downie
Dominion Park & Brookdale Plaza
Chesterfield & Wolsely
#1 Fairbairn & Highland
Residents celebrate the intersection of Fairbairn St. and Highland Rd. as their access point into Jackson Park. Early in the project, this intersection was identified as an area of concern because fast moving traffic on Fairbairn St. cuts the neighbourhood off from Jackson Park. Children and teachers from Highland Heights P.S. banded together with other residents to successfully advocate for new traffic lights at this crossing. The lights were installed in Fall 2018, enhancing safety for all. However, there are still concerns noted by residents, including a steep and inaccessible path into the park, poor connectivity of the Parkway Trail with other cycling infrastructure, and no sidewalk on the west side of Fairbairn St. People often travel down to Bonaccord St. to access the park safely, and would love an accessible entrance closer to home.
As the population in the north end of Peterborough continues to grow with new residential developments, Jackson Park-Brookdale residents want to ensure that Fairbairn St. remains a corridor that is safe for all modes of travel, and that facilitates their connections to Jackson Park.
Design Concepts
Install traffic lights & create a safer crosswalk at Highland & Fairbairn
Residents wanted to see this crossing enhanced to improve community access to Jackson Park. There has been great progress towards this goal! New lights were installed in Fall 2018.
Add a multi-use cycling & pedestrian path along West side of Fairbairn
Residents would like to see better connections between the Parkway Trail and other active transportation infrastructure, like the Trans Canada Trail through Jackson Park.
Create a landing pad entrance to Jackson Park
Add benches, signage, garbage, recycling, lighting, and an accessible concrete (or permeable!) pad at the top of the entrance to Jackson Park.
Realign the Parkway Trail & create an accessible pathway into Jackson Park
On the east side Fairbairn St., residents wanted to align the Parkway Trail so that it extends all the way to the signalized crossing, rather than ending at the sidewalk. This portion of this design idea was completed in 2018 with the installation of the new lights and crosswalk!
On the west side, residents want to enhance the access point into Jackson Park. The gradient into Jackson Park is quite steep here, so switchbacks may be necessary to make it accessible. Some residents have suggested further investigation into options with minimal ecological impacts (e.g., permeable pavers). This stretch of trail is identified in the Cycling Network Implementation Plan as an existing facility to be upgraded.
#2 Chesterfield & Downie
Chesterfield Ave. and Downie St. is an example of a type of intersection that is common in the east end of the neighbourhood. The streets meet at an irregular angle, creating extremely wide intersections with large corners. Visibility is really poor at Chesterfield Ave. and Downie St., and cars speed up past the posted stop sign before slowing, because the stop signs are positioned far back from the intersection. Residents have noted that many vehicles do not come to a full stop. Along the Chesterfield Ave. corridor, some three-way intersections, for example where Chesterfield Ave. meets Mason Ave. and Aberdeen Ave., do not have a stop sign or traffic control measure in any direction.
Traffic demand is low along both Chesterfield Ave. and Downie St., making this intersection an interesting site to explore unconventional traffic calming ideas. Residents are working on creating a pop-up traffic calming demonstration at this site, and would love to see more permanent changes to the intersection in the future.
Design Concepts
Tighten the intersection
Bring in the curb lines, so that the roads meet at a tighter angle. Move the sidewalks and curb cuts forward to correspond with the new alignment of the roads.
Create a new public space
Use the space reclaimed by the tightening of the intersection to create a parklet, rain garden, pollinator garden, or other green community feature.
Create a four-way stop
Move the stop signs on Chesterfield Ave. forward so that sight lines are improved. Add stop signs on Downie.
Calm traffic & beautify the intersection with a mural
Intersection murals can add local character and can help slow down cars, because it signals to drivers that they are in a neighbourhood zone.
#3 Wolsely & Donegal
From the beginning of our engagement in this neighbourhood, the intersection of Wolsely St. and Donegal St. has consistently been an area of focus for residents. This intersection is a key crossing for children at Highland Heights P.S., and parents, children, and crossing guards have all noted the dangerous conditions at this crossing. Residents have even shared anecdotes of collisions and near-misses.
Traffic speeds are not posted on Wolsely St. or Donegal St., meaning that they are the 50km/h city-wide default. Wolsely St., in particular, is a popular route for fast cut-through traffic. We have heard that Wolsely St. creates a social divide in the neighbourhood: kids that live south of Wolsely St. are often not allowed to cross independently to play with friends north of Wolsely St., and vice-versa. Residents feel that simple traffic calming or control measures on Wolsely St. at Donegal St. could have a large impact on safety at this crossing, and on the social connectedness of the neighbourhood. Residents also have ambitions to explore cycling infrastructure options on Wolsely St., enhancements to transit stops on Wolsely St. and Donegal St., and the completion of the sidewalk network.
Design Concepts
Beautify with street trees
This corridor could use some additional street trees for shade, beautification, and storm water management. Residents have also noted that the steep grade of Donegal St. can cause flooding at the bottom of the hill, so green infrastructure, like rain gardens, could help mitigate flooding risk.
Enhance the crossings
Residents would like to see enhancements to the crossings. This could include uniquely painted crosswalks, wide accessible curb cuts, or even a raised intersection with a speed table.
Create a four-way stop
Implementing a four-way stop could be a simple and quick solution to residents’ safety concerns at this crossing.
Add cycling infrastructure on Wolsely
Residents would like to see Wolsely St. become a safer corridor for cycling. People are open to exploring options for different types of infrastructure on Wolsely St., but residents are keen to see this street added to the Proposed Cycling Network Implementation Plan.
The Jackson Park Brookdale neighbourhood currently does not have any dedicated on-road bike infrastructure. Other than the proposed cycling infrastructure in the Chemong Rd. widening project, there are no plans to implement cycling infrastructure in this neighbourhood within the City’s Proposed Ultimate Cycling Network. Residents would like to see additional cycling routes in their neighbourhood. See the “Connecting Vision to Policy” section of this document for more information about the proposed cycling network, which is part of the Comprehensive Transportation Plan.
#4 Parkhill & Downie
Residents noted concerns about this intersection because crossing Parkhill Rd. can be quite challenging. Downie St. has some traffic calming features in place (e.g., speed bumps), and as a result, it is a popular cycling corridor. However, cyclists encounter challenges crossing safely at Parkhill Rd.. There are also some gaps in the sidewalks on this corridor, including a high priority missing stretch of sidewalk on the south side of Parkhill Rd. Residents have also noted that people turn off Parkhill Rd. onto Downie St. in order to avoid Chemong Rd., and the volume of cut-through traffic on this small residential road is concerning.
Design Concepts
Complete gaps in sidewalk
Add sidewalks where they are currently missing on the west side of Downie St. and the south side of Parkhill Rd. According to the City of Peterborough’s Sidewalk Strategic Plan, the Parkhill Rd. sidewalk is listed as Priority 2 and the Downie St. Sidewalk is a Priority 3 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
Prohibit left turns off of Parkhill
To minimize the use of Downie St. for cut-through traffic prohibit left turns off of Parkhill Rd. This would also make crossing easier and traffic flow less interrupted by people waiting to turn left.
Enhance the crossings
Improve the curb cuts and paint zebra crossings, in the short term. Work towards a pedestrian crossover, with push-button pedestrian light, in the long-term
#5 Dominion Park & Brookdale Plaza
Brookdale Plaza is the main commercial hub of the neighbourhood, and Dominion Park is the area’s only neighbourhood park. There could be a natural synergy between the park and the plaza. However, residents have noted that the back of the plaza appears somewhat run down, and is poorly lit. People do not always feel safe walking there after dark. Luckily for the residents of Jackson Park-Brookdale, the existing pedestrian pathway into the plaza can easily be spruced up to create a beautiful and accessible access point that allows for a more user-friendly connection.
Dominion Park itself could also use some enhancements. There is a lack of greenery and shade, and few options for seating to encourage socializing for longer periods of time. There also is a lack of sidewalks around the park, and no accessible pathways into the park.
Design Concepts
Celebrate the connection between the neighbourhood & the plaza
Paint a community mural, and add trees and gardens along the back of the plaza.
QUICK WINS! The park and plaza provide a great canvas for quick-win actions. Residents are working together with GreenUP and the Brookdale Plaza, to create a community mural. Residents can also champion other quick-win actions, like planting rain gardens or community gardens, adding a community board for sharing information, or enhancing seating in the park.
Enhance the park area
Redesign the park area, and add some new features. Residents have suggested features including: naturalized play spaces, trees for shade, benches, picnic tables, and a picnic shelter.
As the ONLY neighbourhood PARK in Jackson Park-Brookdale, residents are keen to see more leisure and recreation offerings at Dominion Park. The City of Peterborough Official Plan (Section 6.0) states that “Neighbourhood parks are developed to provide opportunities for unstructured leisure activities to local residents, contribute to the aesthetics of neighbourhoods and the connectivity of parkland and open space.”
Extend the park area & pedestrian connection to the plaza
Bump the park area out slightly into the right-of-way on Brookdale Cres. This will calm traffic, and make the access point to the plaza more pedestrian-friendly.
Make the park accessible
Complete the missing sidewalks near the park, and develop accessible pathways into the park. Add some accessible play features and seating.
Make Brookdale a shared street
Repave or paint Brookdale Cres. to signal that all users share the space and vehicles should move at the speed of pedestrians (e.g. 10 km/h). This will extend the recreational area, and will enhance pedestrian connections to the park and plaza.
#6 Chesterfield & Wolsely
The intersection of Chesterfield Ave. and Wolsely St. is a key point of access into the Brookdale Plaza. Residents are concerned about this intersection, because the streets meet at an irregular angle. Visibility is poor, and this crossing is very close to the busy intersection of Chemong Rd. and Wolsely St., making it difficult to anticipate traffic turning off Chemong Rd. There are a number of missing sidewalks making crossing even more difficult, especially in winter. The transit stops in this area lack accessibility features, such as concrete pads, benches, and shelters. During our cyclist and pedestrian counts, we observed that cyclists and pedestrians often cut through the plaza parking lot and try to cross Wolsely St. here. The upcoming Chemong Rd. reconstruction may provide some opportunities to enhance connections at this intersection, and the missing sidewalk segments in this area are high priority, according to the City of Peterborough Sidewalk Strategic Plan.
Design Concepts
Complete gaps in sidewalk
Add a sidewalk on the south side of Wolsely St. towards Chemong Rd. This sidewalk is listed as a Priority 2-3 (of 5) in the City of Peterborough’s Sidewalk Strategic Plan.
Enhance crossing at Chesterfield
Add a pedestrian refuge island on Wolsely St. at Chesterfield Ave. to slow traffic and provide the opportunity for a 2-stage crossing. Add a painted crossing at the island.
Make transit stops accessible
Add concrete pads for accessibility, as well as benches and shelters.
Add cycling facilities along Chemong
Residents strongly support the addition of cycling facilities on Chemong Rd. People would like to explore options and best practices for bike infrastructure on this type of road.