It was years in the making, but Midland's Veterans Memorial Crosswalk is officially open for traffic, just in time for Remembrance Day.
At a ceremony on Friday at the Midland Cenotaph, community members, including those from the town's legion branch, gathered to commemorate the crossing which goes over King Street at Ellen Street.
"The Veterans Crosswalk here is a reminder today, and every day, of the sacrifices that have been made by Midland's veterans as well as veterans from all over Canada," said Dan Travers, vice president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 80.
Such an idea was floated by Midland Mayor Bill Gordon during a Remembrance Day ceremony speech in 2024, in which he asked the community if a memorial crosswalk was something they wanted.
Travers says the legion's response was an emphatic "yes," while branch president Dee Adair and Gordon credited Coun. Sheldon East with spearheading the project.
Gordon called the crosswalk a "no-brainer," saying it was important to have another way to honour Canadian veterans while complimenting the nearby cenotaph.
"Our only regret is we couldn't get it done sooner," he said. "But there's only two seasons in Canada: winter and construction season, and we certainly had our hands full of construction. And what we didn't want to do is paint a semi-permanent memorial crosswalk, only to have it ripped up again as we were doing road work here along King and Ellen."
Midland's mayor added that one of the biggest decisions was whether the installation should go across King Street or Ellen Street. Ultimately, it was decided that it deserved the investment to go across the busier thoroughfare.
"It certainly cost a little more than your traditional paint crosswalk," he said. "But we were resolute in that we wanted to build something, much as we have in our cenotaph here, that will withstand the test of time and won't start to degrade."
Installing the crosswalk was a process that the town had never undertaken before.
Instead of using traditional road paint or thermal plastics to create the crossing, it used a material called DecoMark, a preformed thermoplastic manufactured by Ennis-Flint.
"It's all made in a factory and the shapes are cut with CNCs (computer numerical control machines) and and they lay it out on the asphalt," Mitch Sobil, the Town of Midland's executive director of infrastructure management, told Barrie360. "Then, they use large infrared heaters to bake it down into the (new) asphalt at the grit."
PPG Industries, the parent company of Ennis-Flint, says the material is engineered to last six to eight times longer than paint and has been used across multiple locations in Ontario.
After seeing the finished product and taking the maiden crossing along with legion members and associates and other dignitaries, Gordon said he believes the town could replicate the process for future projects.
The crosswalk was funded in part by the Town of Midland and local tech and defence manufacturer Raytheon, which also supports the legion branch's mural and banner programs.
On Wednesday, the town's legion branch will host its Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph followed by a parade to the legion. As a result, King Street will be closed from Colborne Street to Hannah Street from 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m.
There will also be rolling closures from noon to 12:30 p.m. along King Street from Hannah Street to Bay Street, Bay Street to Queen Street, and Queen Street to the legion.
In addition, Midland's municipal office will be closed for the day, although online services remain available.
