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Town staff will explore traffic calming options at busy Alcona intersection

'This continues to be a great concern in this community,' says councillor
2021-08-25StJohns7MK-02
A look at the S-bend in St. John's Road at Line 7, from the multi-use pathway.

In the School Zone Traffic Safety Advisory Committee meeting last week, staff were directed to explore further traffic calming options at the St. John's Road and 7th Line intersection after the push for a traffic light or four-way stop sign was turned down last month. 

The intersection has already been through two traffic engineering studies in the past four years, one in 2017 and one in 2019. Both times, traffic engineers have determined a stop sign at the intersection is not warranted. 

Earlier this summer, a group of residents started a petition urging the town to install a stop sign at the intersection, noting the poor sightlines in the area as well as the high rate of speed at which drivers come around the winding road. 

Currently, there is only a two-way stop, on the east and west sides of the 7th Line. 

In Thursday night's virtual traffic committee meeting, Coun. Donna Orsatti apologized for not being able to attend last month's traffic meeting where the petition was presented due to medical reasons. 

"This continues to be a great concern in this community. For seven years I have been trying to get a stop sign or light," she told the committee members.

She acknowledged the traffic engineering study's findings in that a stop sign is not recommended, but argued that there is an urgent need for traffic calming measures in the area, noting there are no stops on St. John's Road from Innisfil Beach Road to Maple Avenue.

"I am sorry I am not trying to go against the committee I just feel we need to have something in place. I think there are other solutions," she said. 

South Simcoe Police's Sgt. Dave Phillips noted that the intersection is unique, similar to that of the five points in downtown Barrie, and that "a proper solution is going to be much more than just a stop sign."

"I am not against changes to this intersection but as it sits, what does the town want to spend on this one location? This is not a top 20 intersection for collisions," he said.

He applauded the town for engaging traffic engineering experts for their studies but was leery about going against their recommendations.

Committee member Sam Charles suggested doing a third traffic study, noting the increase in new residents moving to the area during the pandemic. 

"Maybe if we do a final study....and engineers say we cannot put a stop sign, maybe that will convince people that we don't need a stop sign," he said.

Sgt. Phillips said he was reluctant to see if the traffic engineers' thoughts would change. 

"We have done this twice. What happens if they have the same opinion or different opinions this time? Where do we go then?" he asked. "I want people to be safe and comply with the laws, but they don’t. How do we promote that?  We need ideas and suggestions." 

He liked the idea of a flashing light, warning drivers to slow down. 

Mayor Lynn Dollin and Project Manager, Roads, Traffic, & Transportation Carolina Cautillo supported the idea of cleaning the bike lanes in the winter time, as suggested by the creators of the petition. 

Charles also suggested bringing the current speeding sensor on St. John's Road further south to the 7th Line, to which Sgt. Phillips noted is already in the works, calling it a "great tool". 

Committee member Alex Juby also noted that the speed traffic cameras coming to town, although planned to start being used in the school zones, could possibly start at the intersection, but couldn't guarantee they would work as needed due to the poor sightlines. 

The committee put forth a recommendation for staff to look into further traffic calming measures at the St. John's Road and 7th Line intersection and will report back to council at a later date. 

 


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Natasha Philpott

About the Author: Natasha Philpott

Natasha is the Editor for BradfordToday and InnisfilToday. She graduated from the Media Studies program at The University of Guelph-Humber. She lives in Bradford with her husband, two boys and two cats.
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