THUNDER BAY - Two city intersections will get a little brighter, with the colours of the Pride flag and the Transgender flag being painted next month.
City council agreed last November to cover one third of the $28,000 cost to add the colours at the Bay Street and Algoma Street intersection in support of the LGBTIQ2S+community.
One crosswalk at Bay Street and Algoma Street will be painted with the colours of the Pride flag and second crosswalk will be painted with the colours of the Transgender flag.
During Monday night’s council meeting, city council voted in favour adding the Pride crosswalk to the May Street and Donald Street intersection in 2020.
“The project will be funded one third by pride, one third by contractor, and one third by city,” said Kayla Dixon, director of engineering and operations with the city of Thunder Bay. “We are looking at getting this done in August. Usually Thunder Pride has their event in June. The numbers were far too low, so this was pushed back to later in the summer.”
Thunder Pride recently celebrated Pride Month in June, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, many in-person events were moved online.
Thunder Pride and North-West Lines will pay the rest of the cost and early last year Thunder Pride raised more than $10,000 from the community to help cover the costs.
City council voted unanimously in favour of adding the cost of painting the crosswalks to the 2020 budget. The colours will be applied to the road using a thermoplastic paint and has a five-year lifespan.
McKellar Coun. Brian Hamilton asked if there would be any kind of ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the occasion.
“Once we get council’s approval on this we will speak to Thunder Pride to see if they are interested in having some kind of event, keeping in mind that the size of events is still somewhat limited,” Dixon said.
“I chatted with the chair of Thunder Pride and he is looking forward to doing a grand opening of the crosswalk,” Coun. Shelby Ch’ng added.
Ch’ng also asked if additional crosswalks will be considered in other parts of the city.
“I would hate for this to fall off the radar if someone isn’t pushing this forward,” she said.
“We expect that discussion to continue and will bring that forward to council as Thunder Pride is interested in bringing that forward,” Dixon said.
