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Rolling Hills stop sign petition gains traction

May 20, 2021   ·   0 Comments

By Sam Odrowski

With no safe place to cross the street at Rolling Hills Drive, a group of residents are working together towards their goal of having a stop sign installed.

An online petition authored by the Rolling Hills Traffic and Safety Committee to Orangeville Town Council, requesting a stop sign, has already garnered around 250 signatures, and will be brought before Council at their June 14 meeting.

“We’ve had a lot of issues with kids crossing to catch the school bus, seniors crossing to the hospital,” said Janice Eldridge, a member of the neighbourhood’s safety committee.

The only place to get across the street, where there’s a pedestrian crossing is at Highway 10, however very few people use it. There’s no sidewalk down to Highway 10 and some residents have concerns after a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle at that crossing back in March of this year.

Eldridge noted that because of this, residents of Rolling Hills just dart across the street when they see an opening.

And while this works for most people, toddlers and seniors who move a little slower are often putting themselves at risk.

“I’ve seen a senior stop on the yellow line because cars would not let them pass and that is very dangerous,” said Cynthia Guideo, member of the Rolling Hills Traffic and Safety Committee.

“We’re high density, we have kids running around, little toddlers trying to cross the street with their family. They don’t have big strides, so they take longer to get across.”

Even though the speed limit is only 40 km/h along Rolling Hills, a lot of the people coming into the neighbourhood from Highway 9 or 10 are speeding, well above the limit, according to Eldrige. A portable speed radar sign was put up in the Rolling Hills neighbourhood a few weeks ago and she said that the OPP have been recording some very upsetting speeds so far.

Last Sunday there was a motor vehicle accident along Highway 10 and traffic was diverted through Rolling Hills, as a detour, and during that time residents had few opportunities to cross while cars consistently passed through.

“A stop sign would have really made a difference in that situation,” said Cindy Aristizabal, who’s also a member of the safety committee for Rolling Hills Drive.

She told the Citizen that in speaking with fellow Rolling Hills residents while dropping off flyers regarding the online petition, her concerns are shared by many others.  

“They’re well in support of us fighting for this, we’re just the voice for the community. It’s the community that’s speaking up,” said Aristizabal.

Eldridge noted that her neighbourhood safety committee’s first interactions with Council was when they were requesting that a guardrail be built at the corner of Rolling Hills Drive where it intersects with McCannell Avenue off of Highway 10. The request came following an incident where a driver jumped the curb and crashed into a resident’s backyard.

Council originally voted against the guardrail when the issue was first brought forward last January, instead putting up trees, painting a yellow line on the road, and adding safety signage. However, following back-to-back incidents on Christmas Day and Dec. 30, where vehicles missed the turn, Council reversed its decision and a temporary guardrail has since been installed.

A permanent guardrail was included in the Town’s 2021 Budget and it should be built later this year.

Eldridge told the Citizen, after the guardrail issue was solved, the committee began focusing on ensuring people can cross the street safely, without worrying about being hit by traffic coming from Highway 9 or 10.

This is what spurred the recent petition for the stop sign, which continues to see more signatures come in each day, with a goal for 500.

The petition can be viewed at: https://www.change.org/p/orangeville-town-council-rolling-hills-stop-sign

“We all are very intent on making this happen because we care about our community,” said Guideo.

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