Installing handrails along the Ogden Point breakwater is a terrible idea, said an 85-year-old Victoria woman as she finished walking the 700-metre-long structure on Thursday.
“You feel freedom. You feel part of the sea. You feel close to nature,” said Jean Alex, who uses a cane.
The non-profit Greater Victoria Harbour Authority has ignited a heated debate with its announcement that it will spend up to $500,000 on railings to improve safety, provide access for wheelchairs and scooters, meet federal labour rules and satisfy insurers.
Alex believes that railings, to be installed early next year, are not needed. “I’ve never heard of anyone going over, except one drunk once.
“But you see the population is growing, therefore the percentage of the barmy ones is going up as well.”
Son Dave Alex, visiting from Courtenay, also opposes railings, saying, “It’s the ability to be there and not feel you are caged in.”
Spending up to $500,000 is “insanity,” he said.
But Lin Fraser, administrator with the Action Committee of People with Disabilities in Victoria, welcomes the railings. “A lot of people who have any kind of mobility issues or balance issues or that kind of thing really do not go out there at all.”
Railings would give a sense of security to those who feel uneasy when the walkway is crowded, Fraser said.
Harbour authority president and CEO Curtis Grad said Labour Canada, deemed to have jurisdiction over the authority, raised concerns during an inspection about protecting workers from falls at the breakwater. The harbour authority was required to inform its insurer of the federal finding, triggering a risk assessment that concluded immediate action was necessary, Grad said.
“We were faced with two scenarios. It was either address the risk through putting up the handrails, or close down the breakwater,” he said.
“I could not live in good conscience a year from now, knowing that somebody fell off and was severely injured or worse, and knowing that we had the opportunity to do something to manage that risk.”
Opinions on the harbour authority’s Facebook page were pro and con, but most writers opposed the plan. “Bad idea. We don’t need to be protected constantly from every single potential danger, no matter how small,” one contributor wrote. Another said, “The risk adds to the experience.”
At the breakwater, Jackson Avio of Fisherman’s Wharf said he is in favour of railings. “If they put handrailings in here and it brings more people down, then that’s good for the city.”
Avio said he has elderly friends who do not go onto the breakwater. “If they had railings, then they would be comfortable walking out there.”
Jelena and Byron Grant took 21-month-old Adrijana to the beach next to the breakwater on Thursday. If the breakwater had railings, “I would feel more comfortable taking her,” Jelena said.
