In June 2018 the crosswalk on Duncan Street in front of the Duncan Garage was painted with multi-coloured parallel stripes. We were curious about how much this cost the City of Duncan so we contacted Paige McWilliam at Duncan City Hall to find out.
Paige McWilliam told us that “The Duncan Garage paid $5,597.90 [in June 2018] to have the rainbow cross-walk painted, which covered the entire cost of the project. The actual painting was done by an outside company.”
Here is what Paige McWilliam told us about the history of this project:
On 5 May 2017 the City of Duncan received a request from Duncan Garage Cafe and Bakery asking for this crosswalk to be painted. Here is a copy of the 5 May 2017 letter to the City of Duncan from Leela Heyward of the Duncan Garage Cafe and Bakery.
In response to this letter, the City of Duncan Council, at its meeting of 15 May 2017, asked for a staff report on “the costs and maintenance requirements for painting a rainbow crosswalk for Council’s consideration..” Here is the City of Duncan staff report on what City staff refers to as “Decorative Crosswalks”, presented to the Committee of the Whole on 5 June 2017 [note: we have done a separate image for each of the 3 pages in the report]:
The cross walk on Duncan Street in front of Duncan Garage was painted in June 2018.
Paige McWilliam of the City of Duncan tells us that “The Duncan Garage paid $5,597.90 to have the rainbow cross-walk painted, which covered the entire cost of the project. The actual painting was done by an outside company.”
We will seek clarification from Paige McWilliam about whether the City of Duncan is responsible for future maintenance costs of this crosswalk or whether these costs are to be borne by Duncan Garage.
We are also seeking similar information from the Municipality of North Cowichan about the “Rainbow Crosswalk” installed on 16-17 July 2018 on James Street between Cowichan Secondary School and the Island Savings Centre. We have contacted the Municipality of North Cowichan about this but, as of this date, we have not received any response.
Since we took the above photo on 17 July 2018 this crosswalk has been damaged. We will contact the Municipality of North Cowichan to find out whether the MNC is responsible for repairing this damage and, if so, how much it will cost.
Here are some more articles from the Cowichan Valley Citizen about this crosswalk on James Street:
- North Cowichan to allow Rainbow Crosswalk at school – 3 June 2018
- James Street Rainbow Crosswalk Vandalized 4 Days After Installation – 20 July 2018
Here are some Cowichan Valley Citizen articles about Rainbow Crosswalks in other communities:
- Merritt Council Rejects Rainbow Crosswalk Proposal – 3 March 2018
- Rejected Rainbow Crosswalk In Merritt – 7 March 2018
- Courtenay Crosswalk Vandalized One Day After Installation – 2 June 2018
- Surrey Rainbow Crosswalk Vandalized 10 Days After Installation – 25 June 2018
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