White: Township must fight for Rockwood safety zone, traffic light

Guelph-Eramosa council is again requesting a community safety zone and traffic lights at the south end of Rockwood.

At its meeting on Jan. 5, Guelph-Eramosa council voted in favour of submitting a community safety zone designation request to the Ministry of Transportation (MTO).

According to the staff report, population growth in the east and west ends of Rockwood, along with the opening of Ecole Harris Mill Public School on MacLennan Street, has significantly increased pedestrian traffic in the village – particularly those needing to cross Highway 7.

The proposed safety zone would decrease speed limits along Main Street (Highway 7) from Guelph Street to south of the intersection of Dunbar and MacLennan Streets. Traffic signals would be placed at the intersection of Dunbar/MacLennan and Highway 7.

In September a new school crossing was implemented at that intersection (crossings are also located at Alma, Inkerman, Main and Bridge Streets). However, with the heavy traffic flow along the highway, some have suggested additional measures need to be taken, CAO Kim Wingrove told council.“With the new school in the south end, we have a number of children crossing Highway 7 and it’s a busy road with lots of traffic travelling on it,” she said.

“There is a new crosswalk there, but it’s felt a higher degree of safety for those pedestrians could be achieved with signals at that intersection.”

Mayor Chris White said he’d like to see the safety zone extended through the village and a traffic light installed.

“We all know Highway 7 has been a problem forever. I’d like to see it go all the way to Fall Street, right through the village, depending on what happens with the new Catholic school,” he said.

Public concerns have already been passed along to the Upper Grand District School Board, MPP Ted Arnott, Minister of Transportation Del Duca and the OPP. However, in terms of a traffic light, White says local officials have had problems in the past discussing it with the ministry because traffic count studies in 2013 found the numbers did not warrant signalization.

“I understand a traffic light has to meet certain traffic numbers … and we’ve asked for this traffic light for years, but the school changes the dynamic,” White said. “Down there, there’s a dip in the road, it’s a blind intersection.”

He said there have also been problems with pedestrians crossing in front of traffic without the presence of a guard. “During the day when the crosswalk isn’t manned, people are going across it and think it’s live,” White explained. “So a traffic light prevents a whole pile of issues.”

White says he plans to seek a meeting with the MTO and have another traffic study conducted in 2015, but he believes a public-oriented approach will be more effective when rallying the government for the changes.

“I’m looking for general consensus, pursuing the community safety zone and going after this traffic light. But this means engaging the public, because you need numbers,” he said.

“We’re going to be talking to parent councils so we have a parent group, so it’s public-driven and not council-driven.”

Councillor Corey Woods said everyone agrees the changes are necessary, but a council request is not enough to sway officials in its favour.

“If you talk to the general public, they say ‘just do it,’ but that’s not the way the government works,” Woods said. “You have to force [the government] to do what appears to be common sense.”

White agreed.

“This is something we need to sink our teeth into and not let go,” he said.

 

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