This is just a quick thank-you note to our Bracebridge public works department. As a homeowner on the lower half of Quebec Street, I want to thank all those responsible for the plowing services, or in this case the lack thereof, provided to the taxpayers of Quebec Street.

Contrary to what our municipal government may think, the traffic on Quebec Street did not reduce with the closing of the high school. In fact, with Georgian College now located on Wellington Street, the use of Quebec Street as a shortcut between the downtown core and the lower flats has increased. School buses, delivery trucks and other like vehicles choose this path of travel to avoid the non-stop congestion the downtown core now experiences.

The lack of proper plowing procedures, the unexpected and unpredictable changes in the weather, the hill and the non-existent snow removal has now reduced Quebec Street to basically a “one-lane goat path.”

Taxpayers on the north side of the street risk damage to the undercarriage of their vehicles every time they attempt to leave their driveways due to the six inches or more of ice build-up that has occurred because of the lack of proper snow removal, mixed with the rains Muskoka has experienced. Also, just attempting to back out of or into your driveway is risky at best when drivers refuse to reduce their speeds coming down the hill. It becomes a game of chance when the snowbanks on either side of the road force you to do a two- or three-point turn to get onto the road.

So again, thank you for the lack of snow removal and sidewalk maintenance on Quebec Street.

Kimberly Hayes-Rogers

Bracebridge