- Hub staff

Further to Mr. Barningham's thwarted circuit, we walked it again yesterday and today.

If you knew the gate to the north of St. George's Church was locked, and your destination were anywhere north and east from that church at 10th Street East and 4th Ave.,  you'd start from the green space among the trees and flowers. There are some stepping stones to show the way, but there is no sidewalk east of St. George's .

Today the southern gate is open, so people might walk on the newly-seeded path or across the field if you're headed for the gardens or the stairs up to Victoria Park.  Yesterday it was locked, so to get to the gardens or stairs you'd have to head up where the surface gets more uneven, with big stones and a deeply worn path to the driveway. There is no other access to the garden, ball diamond or stairs from the north or west.

The driveway and parking lot for the ball players runs along the east side the diamond, with one opening in the fence to the bleachers, and one to the north end of the field.  Beyond that are the gardens, the stairs to Victoria Park, and the labyrinth.

Clearly a lot of people walk down the north side of 10th Street, even though there isn't a sidewalk, because if you are headed for anywhere north and west of St. George's, it's the shortest route that doesn't involve crossing 10th St.. It is paved beside the concrete retaining wall, and grass or dirt by the guardrails which we assume are there out of expectation that a vehicle could leave the road on the steep hill. At the narrowest point, the path is less than 15" wide.  Footprints in the snow show us that people regularly use that precarious route even in winter, presumably to cut through the park and the 11th St. gate to shave a few minutes off their winter walk.

The sidewalk on the south side of 10th Street is continuous through 9th Avenue, but it does not safely serve anyone going in or out of St. George's Park from either direction. 

One reader said that they had taken their baby with them to the community garden. "I had a wagon with tools and plants and my partner was carrying our baby. When we got to the gate we had to go back around to tenth street and weigh the dangers of walking along the grass on the north side or crossing to the sidewalk on the south but having to cross back mid-block. While I was working in the garden I watched high school students simply jump the fence."

Needs for accessibility, safety, and convenience have to be balanced in this highly used community space.