WELLINGTON NORTH – The intersection of Main Street South and King Street East in downtown Mount Forest is being recommended for new pedestrian crossing infrastructure after all.
At a meeting last month, council voted to send an engineering report related to the intersection to the province for review.
“When it was first brought forward to us, it was dropped as not being enough of a traffic problem,” councillor Penny Renken said on Sept. 11, referring to a previous staff recommendation against considering the intersection.
Renken said she was pleased to see it being moved forward.
In January, council discussed four locations for new pedestrian crossing infrastructure, following assessments from Fergus-based Triton Engineering Services Ltd. in 2019 and 2021.
The intersections were:
– Main Street South at King Street East (Mount Forest);
– Main Street North at Durham Street West (Mount Forest);
– Queen Street East at Parkside Drive (Mount Forest); and
– Smith Street at Conestoga Street (Arthur).
In a 2022 letter to the township, Triton engineers concluded all four locations would benefit from the installation of what’s known as a “Level 2” “Type ‘B’” crossover — essentially a black and white “piano-key” pattern painted on the roadway, with overhanging pedestrian crossing signs, and flashing beacons activated by a push button.
Staff recommended against Main and King in downtown Mount Forest but councillors Sherry Burke and Penny Renken questioned the decision.
Renken spoke about a pedestrian having been struck at the intersection years ago, and Burke opined that the intersection is chaotic at the best of times.
In March, the Community News inquired with Wellington OPP about traffic incidents related to the intersection. Spokesperson Jacob Unger searched the past decade and found a single record for a 2022 collision there involving a “young pedestrian” who suffered injuries. Unger cautioned there could be more incidents, and said data was limited to collisions involving an injury or damage over $2,000.
Responding to councillors’ questions in March, then-operations director Matthew Aston said he put forward intersections he thought were “most important.”
Aston also conceded the downtown location made “a lot of sense” for a crosswalk.
“We can proceed with these (three) … and then do some further research and diligence into what the options might be at King and Main for [the] future,” Mayor Andy Lennox told council at the time, adding all the crossing projects would ultimately face the challenge of getting budget approval.
Because the roads intersect with Highways 6 and 89, engineering reports on three of the four intersections were sent to the province for review and approval (the transportation ministry has say over modifications to its roads).
Staff were instructed to return to council with recommendations for the contested Mount Forest intersection — hence the recent report from township senior project manager Tammy Stevenson.
However, Fergus-based Triton Engineering Services Ltd. had already assessed the intersection and made a recommendation.
Driver awareness
Triton’s review of the intersection lasted eight hours in July 2019, and engineers recommended the same infrastructure as the other three intersections with a report stating: “a [pedestrian crossover] at this location is expected to improve driver awareness of pedestrians crossing and improve pedestrian safety.”
Stevenson’s September report reiterates those already-known details.
“A level two, type ‘B’ [crossing] will minimize pedestrian delay in crossing … and disruption to traffic will be limited to waiting for pedestrians to move through the crossing when the beacons are activated,” her report to council states.
“Council could therefore consider the installation of pedestrian crossing infrastructure recommended at Main Street South and King Street East, subject to [provincial] approval,” her report also states, adding the work would make the crossing compliant with provincial standards for serving those with disabilities, such as mobility limitations.
Stevenson estimates installation will cost around $250,000, and notes there will be yearly inspection and maintenance costs. The township is exploring cost-sharing with the Mount Forest Business Improvement Association.
Rainbow crosswalks
If the province gives the green light, the paint job will be a standard black-and-white, piano-key pattern, council has also decided.
Following a delegation to council in March by Rosie Krul, Lindsay Smith, Sarah Corfield, Amy Timberlake and Caitlin Hall asking council to put a rainbow crosswalk in the township, a staff report recommends against allowing colourful paint jobs.
In the report, also authored by Stevenson, it’s noted that Cornwall’s legal counsel suggested there is increased risk and liability with the crossings.
Lawyers recommended that municipality wait until an update to a Canadian traffic control manual was complete, based on a study about non-standard pavement markings, published in April by a transportation consultant.
Once the manual is updated, based on the recently-released study, Stevenson suggested another report could be brought to Wellington North council.
“[Alternatives] to non-standard pavement markings to support, celebrate and give recognition to various groups could [include] painted murals on walls, or celebration flags hung on Main Street light [poles] or municipal buildings,” Stevenson wrote in her report.
During the March delegation, Krul told council a rainbow-coloured crosswalk would signal that people belonging to the 2SLGBTQIA+ community are welcome in Wellington North, and that discrimination and homophobia wouldn’t be tolerated.
On Sept. 11, councillor Steve McCabe agreed with Stevenson’s suggestion for alternatives, saying, “there’s gotta be a better way to recognize groups that are looking for some sort of recognition.”
“The rainbow crossing, or whatever you want to call that … it just gets literally driven over,” he remarked.
Councillor Penny Renken echoed her comments made earlier in the year, saying she doesn’t believe it’s necessary to have a symbol for one group, when the township’s growth plan mentions there’s a place for all.
“It’s already mentioned in there that we do have a place for everybody, and everybody is welcome,” she said last month.
Following the March delegation, Renken said other community groups would be left out if only the queer community is highlighted.
“We have cultural communities, and we have racial communities, and we have heterosexual communities, and they’re not represented anyway in town,” Renken said at the time.
Krul told Renken such logic shouldn’t be used to “halt representation of any one group in the meantime,” and agreed all groups could benefit from recognition.
The subject of how the township may highlight groups wishing for more recognition in the community will return to council in the future, Mayor Andy Lennox said at the Sept. 11 meeting.
