MINTO – Traffic safety issues in the town of Palmerston continue to be a concern for Minto council as it awaits a staff report on the situation.
At the Sept. 23 meeting, council discussed concerns from local residents about speeding through Palmerston and pedestrian and cyclist safety near the busy commercial/industrial area at the west end of the community.
At that time, interim co-CAO Chris Harrow said staff were looking into solutions, some of which could be a part of a major road reconstruction project on the town’s Main Street, which is also Wellington Road 123 through Palmerston.
Discussion on the topic continued at the Nov. 1 meeting, in response to a letter from Palmerston resident Esther Williams.
“Over the past year I have noticed the traffic speeds on King Street in Palmerston are unsafe. Many vehicles are travelling above the speed limit, most noticeably large trucks,” Williams stated in the letter.
“Many times trucks come up King street from Drayton into town well above the speed limit, only to use their engine brakes as they come to the Queen/King Street four-way stop. This is especially dangerous with the sidewalks being next to the road.”
Williams, who stated she had witnessed some close calls involving pedestrians, both adults and children, and a few weeks ago awoke to find “someone screaming and laying in the middle of King Street as someone had hit their cat.
“When I first heard the noise I thought someone’s child had gotten hit on the way to school. Thankfully this wasn’t the case,” she noted.
Williams suggested a three-way stop at the King Street and Toronto Street intersection “to force vehicles to slow down when they enter town,” might be helpful.
“I hope that the town council is able to come to a solution before someone is hurt,” she added.
“We’ll send that to staff because we’ve been working on this … and they’re coming back with a report,” said Mayor George Bridge when the letter was brought up for discussion by councillor Ron Elliott.
Harrow noted the town has received some preliminary data from Black Cat traffic monitoring systems recently installed by the OPP in locations in Palmerston and Harriston.
“The one in Palmerston showed that in the 85th percentile, it was 75 kilometers (per hour) in the 70 zone and that was over 42,000 vehicles were captured,” said Harrow
“And another one in Harriston, there was over 25,000 vehicles captured in the 85th percentile, showed 52 kilometers in a 50. So far the preliminary data is showing there’s not a significant problem, but we’re going to continue to get the data that I will share with council.”
Harrow added, “We are working with the OPP and the OPP is collecting some really good data on this.”
Elliott said the perception of traffic speed can seem enhanced for pedestrians.
“At 50 it seems like, when you’re walking down the sidewalk, you’re doing 80,” he said.
Bridge commented he was surprised to see over 44,000 cars coming through Palmerston during the week the Black Cats were up.
“Palmerston is a busier place than it ever was,” Bridge observed.
“You will see that, hopefully, in our redesign of the Palmerston Main Street,” said Harrow.
