Aurora moves to establish traffic safety advisory committee
Yorkregion.com
May 26, 2016
By Teresa Latchford
Residents with traffic concerns will soon be able to bring their complaints to a traffic advisory committee or board.
The proposal to strike a committee made up of town staff, councillors and residents and other community stakeholders to help address traffic congestion, calming and traffic flow measures was brought forward by Councillor Sandra Humfryes at this week’s council meeting.
“We are growing very fast and with more buildings being built, it means more traffic on our streets,” Humfryes said. “People need a place to bring their issues.”
Council has recently experienced an influx in residents requesting traffic calming measures for their streets but when these residents speak at a council meeting they only receive five minutes to state their case, she added.
“It’s not enough time to thoroughly discuss these complicated issues,” she said. “We (council members) aren’t traffic or safety experts and five minutes doesn’t give us all of the information needed to make an educated decision.”
In the past, Aurora had a traffic advisory committee that included traffic engineers and police officers, which allowed concerns and requests from residents to be heard and evaluated.
At the same meeting, Humfryes was hesitant to vote in favour of a resident who requested speed cushions be installed on a portion of Mavrinac Boulevard because she was concerned about how it would impact traffic flow in the surrounding area.
“A committee would be able to interact with residents and work through and look at each case closely,” she said. “There is also legislation that needs to be consulted when making these decisions.”
“This (committee) will be a place for residents to go to be heard and have an open dialogue,” she said. “That way, council gets a pre-warning before being asked to make a decision.”
