Fencing is going up this summer in three areas around Albion Falls to keep people away from potentially dangerous areas.

No trespassing signs may also be posted, said east Mountain Coun. Tom Jackson.

The moves follow another rescue call at the popular natural site Sunday afternoon. This time, a 9-year-old boy had to be brought up from the gorge by firefighters after he suffered minor injuries.

The fencing will be installed or added in three areas: on the north side of the gorge from the sidewalk to the first viewing platform; on the south side of the top of falls; and around the staircase leading to paths used by visitors to walk down to the bottom of the gorge.

“Hopefully over the next two or three weeks,” said Jackson.

The hope is to keep people out of the gorge and on the Bruce trail that runs next to Mud Street, he said.

Jackson said the city’s legal department has been asked to look at no trespassing signs for the area to give law enforcement officers the authority to lay charges.

“I’m not here to be punitive here,” he said. “Collectively, we have to change the behaviour of certain people of the risk-taking mindset and try to stem the tide of (incidents).”

The idea of so-called “shock signs” that warn of dangers and tell people about the number of deaths and rescues is also on the table, said Jackson.

Until as late as April 2012, there were no warning signs near the stairs that descend about 15 feet from Mountain Brow Boulevard, according to imagery from Google Streetview. Nor were there any on the fence at the top of the gorge.

In early 2014, the stairs, which had been decaying, were closed due to safety concerns. They were blocked with wooden snow fencing and two “Trail closed” signs were posted on either side. Later that summer, after the staircase was repaired — the stairs and railing were rehabilitated, an extra step was added and the landing area was reworked — they were were open again to the public. No warning signs were posted next to it.

A Streetview image from July 2015 appears to show city workers installing the “Please stay on main trail” sign near the staircase.

Jackson said he spent about half an hour watching dozens of people around Albion after Sunday’s accident.

He said they looked relaxed and unaware, or unbelieving, that they could be putting themselves in danger as they used the unmarked “human-made paths” at the bottom of the staircase, about 10 feet below the road grade.

The Ward 6 councillor said he watched one man walk out on a rock ledge near the top of the falls to take a selfie with the water in the background.

“The psychology is that they don’t think any harm will come to them,” he concluded.

Jackson said it’s obvious that people want to get as close as possible to the waterfalls and enjoy the natural splendour. He wants to push forward with his idea of an observation deck on the south side of the gorge, or a fence, to allow people to get close to the falls but stay safe.

He said he’s hopeful something can be put in place “over the next year or two.” He was non-committal on the idea of stairs to the bottom of the falls due to liability concerns.

Corey Dixon suffered serious injuries in February 2016 and had to be rescued from the Albion gorge. He said he slipped on one of the earthen paths at the base of the stairs that lead down from Mountain Brow Boulevard and ended up falling down the rock face about 9 metres (30 feet).

He said he wasn’t being a daredevil, just following the worn-in trail everyone else seems to have followed.

“The majority of the accidents are not people being stupid,” he said. “For people like me, I wasn’t even near the cliff or the waterfalls.”

Dixon is part of a group that has started a petition at change.org to ask Jackson and the city to improve safety at Albion Falls. One measure the petition asks for is properly marked trails or paths.

“People are innocently going to this beautiful area without any sort of direction of where the ‘safe’ areas are,” reads one section of the petition.

Dixon said he’s encouraged by the measures Jackson has announced and hopes the city follows through on them.