Call for stop signs rejected for 3 Newmarket neighbourhoods

Councillors endorse staff recommendations that bollards, new signage, pavement markings are among the safer options to control traffic

Newmarkettoday.ca
April 12, 2022
Elizabeth Keith

It's a no to stop signs at three intersections in Newmarket, despite residents' concerns about traffic in their neighbourhoods.

Staff determined other traffic calming measures would be more effective at Stonehaven Avenue and Best Circle West, Art West Avenue and Frederick Curran Lane, and Poppy Lane and Wilbur Pipher Circle/Warby Trail, a finding backed by the ward councillors at today's committee of the whole meeting.

“The idea of stop signs -- we know they’re appealing to the residents, we know we could have another 100 in town in a year or two if we wanted to go there, but experts, not just here in town but North America-wide and beyond, have established if you have too many stop signs, and you have stop signs where there isn’t enough traffic from the other side, the people will start to ignore them and it can create real actual safety concerns," Mayor John Taylor said.

At Art West and Frederick Curran, they have recommended the implementation of "Pedestrians Ahead" and speed limit signage. This intersection has high pedestrian traffic due to nearby Alexander Muir Public School.

“There are a lot of children walking to that school, so making sure that the crossings are safe for them is obviously a paramount concern,” said Councillor Christina Bisanz, who represents the ward.

She said that although a stop sign was not recommended, she accepts the report from staff.

“This is a situation where children are crossing the street, we have no stop sign and just because the nature of the road and the number of the children crossing, we did get acknowledgement that there is a safety issue even though the warrants for the stop sign were not evident,” she said.

Taylor also offered a suggestion for promoting safety in the area, suggesting a door-to-door campaign could help spread the word for drivers to slow down.

“The challenges that some of the residents are seeing in terms of safety in that intersection are probably largely people that are very local," he said, adding that both streets end in a cul-de-sac.

Both Taylor and Bisanz agreed to go around the neighbourhood to speak directly with residents.

At Stonehaven and Best Circle, which is in Councillor Grace Simon's ward, transportation staff recommended improvement to the sidewalks and boulevards there, additional pavement markings, and the installation of flexible traffic bollards.

“I think it’s a really good, fair next step. I know that the residents were asking for a three-way stop but the data just didn’t really make sense and there was a concern for safety issues if we were to put a stop sign there," she said. "So, respectfully, we’re taking the professionals' lead on this and we spent a lot of dialogue going back and forth with the reasons why not to put a stop sign there.”

Simon said with the improvements that are coming, a lot of attention is being focused in this area.

“I’m feeling pretty comfortable and really expectant that we’ll see some slowdowns,” she said.

The intersection at Poppy and Wilbur Pipher/Warby is also in Simon's ward. There, staff have recommended the implementation of an in-road bollard program.

The call for traffic measures in the area was raised last year when a young child was struck by a car while crossing the street on a bike. Simon said this was a scare in the community.

“A child was hit by a car. We never got the follow-up report on it but it raised a lot of concern in the neighbourhood,” she said.

While a stop sign was not yet approved for this intersection, Simon said the recommended action is a good first step.

“I’m comfortable with that because it’s a starting point,” she said. “We’ll stay on this and wait for the data and the report to come back from the bollards being out there in the spring and then, if necessary, to take the next steps."

Councillor Victor Woodhouse commended both Simon and Bisanz for accepting the recommendations from transportation staff even though it didn't align with what their residents had asked for.

"We want to do the right thing for our residents but sometimes the pressure can be fairly significant and yet if we simply do what our residents ask we may be endangering them as the reports have indicated,” he said.

Councillors will need to finalize the decisions at an upcoming council meeting.