A group of Convent Glen residents living near Jeanne d’Arc Blvd. and Vineyard/Fortune Drive are upset that OC Transpo wants to create a roundabout at the intersection in order toc accommodate buses dropping off riders at the future Jeanne d’Arc LRT station.

As part of the LRT system running along the 174, stations are being built at Montreal Road, Jeanne d’Arc Blvd., Orléans Blvd. and Place d’Orléans. These stations will act as hubs for local bus routes. In the case of the Jeanne d’Arc Blvd. station, buses coming from south of the 174 will drop off passengers at the station and then turn around using the proposed roundabout to head back south and start another run.

Residents are upset for a number of reasons. Perhaps the biggest reason is that the proposed roundabout would be built in front of the Convent Glen Catholic Elementary School. Children cross the intersection at Jeanne d’Arc and Vineyard/Fortune, which currently has traffic lights, going to and from the school every day with the help of a crossing guard.

Heather Brown is one of the local residents who is adamantly opposed to a roundabout at the intersection.

She believes that it will put the children in serious danger of being hit by a car as they try to cross the roundabout going to and from the school. And she’s not alone.

During an impromptu meeting held at the intersection on April 18, 25 area residents braved the pouring rain to voice their concerns with Orléans West-Innes ward city councillor Laura Dudas.

Dudas found out about the proposed roundabout from city staff in late January and immediately posted the news on her Facebook page, even though the it was still very much in the conceptual stage. At the time, she insisted that staff organize a public information session as soon as the detailed designs of the roundabout are complete.

Although a date had yet to be announced at press time, Dudas told those gathered last Thursday that the meeting would be held very soon, most likely at the Bob MacQuarrie Recreation Centre.

Brown and others are worried that the roundabout is already a fait accompli and that staff are going to come to the meeting and just dictate what they plan to do. But Dudas says she fully expects staff to listen to the residents’ concerns and address them accordingly, especially the concerns of area parents whose children use the intersection to walk to Convent Glen Catholic.

One thing is for sure, whenever the meeting is held, the planning staff responsible for the project can expect to hear an earful.