Puslinch council asks county for Arkell intersection review

ABERFOYLE – Puslinch councillor Jessica Goyda hopes Wellington County will conduct a traffic review at the Arkell intersection after hearing for years about near misses there.

Arkell is a tiny hamlet, but the intersection  –Wellington Road 37 (Arkell Road) and Wellington Road 41 (Watson Road South) – is busy with commuter traffic making its way south to Highway 401, or east/west along Arkell Road.

“This isn’t asking for a particular solution,” she said after her motion was read aloud at a July 15 meeting. “It’s just to look and see” what improvements could be made, she added.

The neighbourhood group Concerned Citizens of Puslinch (CCP) held a meeting on June 28 to discuss traffic through the hamlet and other concerns. It has a petition with at least 30 signatures seeking:

• a speed reduction, from 50 to 40km/h, and designation of Arkell as a community safety zone with increased fines;
• OPP enforcement of the 40km/h speed limit and the “no trucks” prohibition;
• installation of an electronic speed sign on the south end of Watson Road South (same as the three county signs at the entrances to Arkell), and of solar flashing red lights on top of the four stop signs in Arkell;
• installation of appropriate bollards on Watson Road South under Puslinch’s jurisdiction (same as the county’s at the three hamlet entrances);
• painted pedestrian crossing lines in all four directions at the intersection of Arkell and Watson roads;
• consultation with residents prior to the installation of any speed humps; and
• exclusion of traffic lights as an option for Arkell intersection.

In a series of emails, CCP spokesperson Bruce Taylor said studies of traffic signals indicate drivers tend to speed up to avoid a red light. Considering restricted sightlines at the Arkell intersection, all-way stops are a better option, he said.

Taylor also worries drivers will cut through Boreham Drive to avoid lights, should they be installed, increasing traffic on Boreham, which is a quiet, residential street with a public park.

“Images of ‘runners’ and ‘cut-through drivers,’ and the dangers each poses. That’s all one needs to picture. That would be the result of traffic lights in Arkell,” Taylor stated.

He added the group opposes a county traffic study because its members fear it will bring unintended consequences, and because the answers, as they outlined, are very clear, sensible and obvious.

Taylor  said Arkell Road  “needs to be re-designated as a non-arterial road” and that transport trucks should not be on these local roads at all.

In her motion’s preamble, Goyda points out the intersection is very busy during peak commuter hours and before and after school; it is not well-marked for pedestrians or cyclists; and traffic calming measures that have been installed to date are often vandalized.

She hopes the county will conduct a comprehensive review of the intersection “to assess existing traffic operations, pedestrian activity, cyclist usage, collision history, traffic control compliance, and overall safety conditions, and identify potential measures to improve safety and intersection operations,” the motion states.

Puslinch council approved the motion. It remains to be seen if Wellington County will conduct the review.