People in the Nantucket neighbourhood of Dartmouth have started a petition demanding the city bring back two of its crosswalks.

The crossing points at the intersections of Spring and Ellenvale Avenues and Spring Avenue and Clydsdale Drive were removed following a 2007 report on crosswalk safety.

"My son is seven, and we were hoping that next year he could get the bus himself," said Stephany Kilroy, who lives in the area. "But without a crosswalk, that's not going to happen."

Kilroy said the crosswalk provided a route for many students who try to catch the school bus.

"To us, we're thinking the cost of a can of paint against the price of, you know, maybe a pedestrian's life. It's just not worth it."

Stephany Kilroy says the crosswalks were well used by pedestrians. (CBC)

Kilroy said the pavement was recently resurfaced and the crosswalk wasn't painted. She said it took a while before they realized it wasn't coming back at all.

"We were not notified at all," Kilroy said, adding that the city should have consulted the neighbourhood.

Kilroy said she's signed a petition to bring the crosswalks back. She said people are also considering painting their own lines in protest — something people along Waverley Road did last week.

Kilroy has the support of Councillor Darren Fisher.

"There's a reason why they put crosswalks in these places in the first place," he said. "We've got to revisit this."

He said new crossing standards should only be applied to new developments.

"It's an extremely frustrating situation," he said.