Last night Council approved my motion 5-2 for a permanent installation of a rainbow crosswalk on the south side of the Yonge and Wellington intersection. The intent of this initiative is to provide a permanent symbol of the Town of Aurora’s commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. I am proud the majority of Council supported this crosswalk and the Town of Aurora will become the first municipality in York Region to install a rainbow crosswalk. Work to order the paint and schedule installation will begin immediately.
You may have heard the budget for this crosswalk is $12,600 versus $8,400 for a typical white zebra crossing as currently installed — which is true. Crosswalks in high use areas like Yonge & Wellington use preformed thermal plastic for durability and typically last 7 to 10 years with little maintenance.. The current crosswalk was installed in 2012 and a “refresh” was done in 2018 to clean and remove any marks. The incremental cost of $4,200 versus a white crosswalk is for the additional coverage area — and of course, the rainbow colours.
As I said at the table, sometimes you do things just because they are the right thing to do — and I believe this is the right thing to do. The support from the community has been overwhelmingly positive based on the feedback I have received. In fact, a donor generously contributed $10,000 towards this initiative. Normally I would acknowledge this substantial donation, but they asked to remain anonymous so the focus would be on the importance of this initiative.
This crosswalk will be a permanent feature in the heart of our Town that will always confirm that Aurora is a diverse and inclusive community where everyone is welcome and accepted. #GettingThingsDone
