New traffic lights cause a stir in Mount Albert

Local resident Patricia Thoun say it feels like she has moved to Amsterdam and is in the red light district

Yorkregion.com
September 27, 2018
Simon Martin

It’s a lot brighter at the corner of Mount Albert Road and Centre Street these days. The much-discussed traffic lights at the intersection became operational last week after York Region responded to safety concerns raised by some residents.

Local resident Patricia Thoun has a front-row seat to the new lights, and she is not happy.

“It seems my husband and I have moved to Amsterdam and are in the centre of the red light district,” she said. “Our home is now illuminated beyond belief.”

Thoun’s home is right in front of three lights. The intersection also came with three additional street lights. “Even with curtains and a blind, it is outrageously blinding and certainly not conducive to sleeping,” she said.

Thoun has a number of other concerns about the new lights, including unnecessary lights at the corner, a crosswalk that leads to no sidewalk on the south side of Mount Albert Road and three traffic lights that face traffic on northbound Centre Street. She said the new lights have certainly reduced the value of her heritage home.

Local resident and business owner Doug Willitts was also a vocal critic of the lights before they were implemented. While he was concerned about traffic on Mount Albert Road between Hwy. 48 and York-Durham Line and the lack of pedestrian crossing, Willitts doesn’t think the light was put in the right spot. “That is not the intersection I would have spent the dollars on,” he said.

Willitts would have preferred the light to be located at Don Rose Boulevard. The Region decided to move forward with the light in January of this year after it had put the decision on hold after hundreds of residents voiced their opposition to the traffic change via a petition.

The region held further consultations with residents at an open house Nov. 27 when 120 people attended.

A traffic control signal was presented as the preferred solution to address sightline concerns, improved accessibility for people with disabilities, countdown pedestrian signals and increased street lighting.

Of the 59 comments received at the open house, only 11 were in favour of the light.

More than 40 per cent of the comments received from residents preferred an alternative location for a traffic control signal or another form of traffic control, such as a roundabout, all-way stop or flashing beacon.

Criticism from residents ranged from the light making the hill more dangerous in bad weather to their view that the light does nothing to stop speeders.

"I cannot imagine a school bus having to stop on that hill in good weather, let alone in rain or snow. Please reconsider this choice,” Rebecca Doner said.

“The residential streets will become busier with people trying to bypass the light,” Jeff Mackey said.

“Consider the fact that there is a school at the bottom of the hill and cars may be sliding backward toward that school or you will get people running the red light so that they don’t risk sliding down the hill. Just not a good idea at all,” Lindsey Wensink said.