A Fergus woman’s complaint about heavy traffic on Tower Street will result in the county OPP arranging a meeting with the Ministry of Transportation to consider safety issues.
Police Services Board chairman Lynda White told council on May 26 she had earlier in the day signed a letter informing Fergus resident Candace Baillie about that meeting.
Baillie had written to the board about her concerns with young students attending J.D. Hogarth Public School and having to cross Highway 6 (Tower Street, in Fergus) to get there.
“This is not only extremely dangerous but it is unnecessary. There are many different options available to ensure children have a safe trip to school such as crossing guards or buses,” said Baillie.
She wrote, “My family and I just moved to Fergus in March and after moving into a house located right on Tower Street South, my husband and I just assumed that the school would provide transportation, for not only do we have to cross the highway to get to the school, but it is also a 20 minute walk.”
Baillie has two children, one in junior Kindergarten and the other in grade 2.
She said the options for getting to school currently include crossing at Union and Tower Street, where they have almost been hit twice by cars. She said the lights allow a left turn heading south and because those vehicles are usually in a hurry, they often do not give pedestrians the right of way.
And because of that, pedestrians sometimes have to wait “for a couple of light changes for the traffic to dissipate so we can cross, or we get to wait for a break in the cars and make a run for it.”
Her other crossing option is at Belsyde Avenue and Tower Street South. She said that intersection has “slightly less traffic but is very difficult for a pedestrian with children, for there are so many plaza entrances and exits as well as still highway drivers. The one side of the intersection even has a median to stop on before continuing across. We use this route less for it is not much safer and adds a hill to the already 20 minute walk that wears my children out.”
She said the family has no other transportation option because her husband has the family’s driver’s licence and leaves early for work.
Baillie added the family has been refused bus service because they live too close to the school, and they cannot afford to take a taxi.
Baillie said she has contacted school board officials, plus Public Works, the chamber of commerce and the information centre to find out who deals with the problem.
OPP Constable Frank Thornton prepared a report for the Police Services Board.
He noted that pedestrian traffic in all directions at Belsyde and Tower Street South is controlled by the pedestrians, but there is no control from the island on the southeast corner. There is a white painted line between the island and the sidewalk that indicate an area in which to cross.
He said the traffic management unit monitored the intersection using an unmarked police car, and paid particular attention to the hours of 7:45 to 9am and 3 to 4pm, as well as lunch periods. The survey was done over six days.
“Although no specific charges were laid in relation to safety concerns with the traffic and pedestrians, there were three distracted driving charges laid (cell phones) and a couple of minor traffic warnings issued,” Thornton said in his report.
He added a check of police records at that intersection since 2002 revealed that there were:
– 67 motor vehicle collisions;
– 47 traffic complaints ranging from red light runners to pedestrians almost being struck by vehicles;
– two insecure loads, where items fell off trucks into the intersection;
– 12 impaired drivers or 12 hour suspensions issued;
– one red light charge (Thornton noted that not all officers create an incident report if they lay Highway Traffic Act Offences charges); and
– one report of a senior citizen slipping on ice and needing assistance.
Thornton also noted traffic flow during the time school children would use it is moderate to heavy; children were seen crossing the intersection properly, and once they reached the island they waiting until there was a break in traffic and would then “dash” or quickly walk to get to the sidewalk; there were no close encounters where a vehicle had to heavily brake to avoid a child when police surveyed the corner, but there is a “high potential for a collision involving a person being struck while crossing the island to the sidewalk.”
Thornton added the right turn lane has a yield sign property posted. It is situated closer to Belsyde Avenue and past the area that is painted for crossing from the island to the sidewalk.
He recommended hiring a crossing guard for the intersection between the island and the sidewalk when children are walking to school, but he said that is only “a temporary fix.”
He said the problem affects others using the intersection, and “a senior with mobility issues was observed to get stranded on this island for approximately two to three minutes before being able to cross safely onto the sidewalk.”
He recommended putting a control signal on the right turn lane along with a pedestrian “Walk-Don’t Walk” light from the island to the sidewalk.
Thornton also said a meeting should be arranged between the stakeholders to “examine options to promote safety at this location.”
White told council the OPP will be arranging a meeting to consider the problems.
