Petition puts public safety on radar over 'death trap' roads in Georgina

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 4, 2017
By Heidi Riedner

More than 1,600 people have signed a petition describing "dangerous" roads in Georgina as "death traps".

"All too many times we have the unfortunate distinction of being host to catastrophic collisions," said Keswick resident Lee Dale, who started the petition on change.org. The petition is called Residents for safe travel and living on Ravenshoe Road.

The most recent accident involved a seven-vehicle collision on Ravenshoe Road Sept. 19 that claimed the lives of an elderly couple from Aurora, as well as sent numerous people to hospital with serious injuries.

"We all have been touched in some way by the devastating impacts of these accidents and unsafe conditions on some of these roads," Dale said, referring to not only Ravenshoe Road, but also Woodbine Avenue and Hwy. 48, which have both been the sites of fatal collisions.

Dale's own brother, who required extensive recovery and rehabilitation after a terrible accident, was subsequently rear-ended by another vehicle while stopped at a red light at Woodbine Avenue and Ravenshoe Road.

"His vehicle was totalled, along with his confidence in driving these roads," Dale said.

He's not alone.

The reasons were many for the now close to 2,000 people who have signed the petition, from numerous accounts of dealing with aggressive, speeding and distracted drivers, to waiting for a vehicle to plow through their front windows in the once quiet "hamlet" of Ravenshoe between Kennedy and Warden, to fearing for your life exiting your driveway. Others signed the petition in memory of family or friends who lost their lives as the result of collisions.

The No. 1 reason cited was "too many people are being killed".

"I hate to say it, but this is a townwide epidemic affecting people's quality of life," said Dale, adding the roads were never designed to handle the traffic loads experienced now.