Wentworth stairs now open

From the fences at Albions Falls to the closure of the Wentworth stairs, Hamiltonians don’t like to be told No.

The Wentworth stairs were supposed to be closed to the public this past week, but many ignored the signs and kept using them anyway. The city has now decided to re-open the stairs even though construction work isn’t finished.

Signs that were once blocking the Wentworth stairs were ripped off and tossed to the side. The city closed both the top and the bottom half of the Wentworth stairs last Tuesday. It said the closure was necessary because the stairs are divided by the west leg of the Sherman access, which is closed for construction. The city also said last week that it was going to use this closure as a time to repair the bottom half of the stairs. But there is no construction on this section of the Sherman access where the stairs are divided. In fact, there are signs warning construction vehicles about pedestrian crossings.

The city wont admit that it was the defiance of the users that led to the re-opening. It says the contractor working on the Sherman access re-evaluated the situation.

“Originally the thought was to close it for public safety but the existing cut always had pedestrians crossing live traffic, so most of the users should be aware of dealing with live traffic.” Marco Oddi, City of Hamilton.

The bottom half of the stairs will be closed for one month later on in the summer for construction. The Sherman access will have gates along the crossing from one set of stairs to another after hours, so that pedestrians using the stairs do not venture off into the construction zone.