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Work to make Highway 9 crossing safer continuing: Orangeville council

August 15, 2024   ·   0 Comments

By JAMES MATTHEWS

Orangeville staff will maintain an open dialogue with the province about pedestrian safety at a Highway 9 intersection.

Tom Dulisse, the town’s transportation and development manager, said in a report discussed during council’s Aug. 12 meeting that Infrastructure and Community Services Staff continue to work with the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) to improve the quality, efficiency and safety of nearby highways.

In particular, municipal and provincial officials discussed ways to make the pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Highway 9 at Rolling Hills and Oak Ridge Drive safer.

“There has been a lot of work on this location,” Councillor Joe Andrews said.

MTO is reviewing traffic data volumes, operating speeds, and turning movements at the intersection.

The province has initiated work on the broader school zone review. Although not completed at this time, some preliminary measures have been taken by installing Community Safety Zone signs, painting the pavement crossing area with highly visible ladder crossings and including additional traffic signs in the area.

MTO installed “STOP HERE ON RED” signs to give clearer direction for motorists approaching the pedestrian crossing. The new signage has been set back from the intersection to reduce the crowding of pedestrians crossing the road.

New pedestrian push buttons have been supplied by the town and installed by the MTO’s electrical maintenance contractor.

“This is a high traffic area,” Andrews said.

He said more mitigation needs to be done, despite the abundance of work already completed to improve safety there.

The Highway 9 corridor review has also spawned the review of the crossings on Highway 10 at Fourth Avenue and Broadway.

“In other words, in cooperation with the province and depending on the outcome of the broader school zone review and corridor management plan, some of the recommendations may be carried over to Highway 10,” Dulisse wrote in his report.

Andrews said the town has beefed up its complement of crossing guards at the Highway 9 location, but there are still motorists who disregard caution.

“I’d like to see more done,” he said. “I just feel that Highway 9 is just one of those anomalies within our transportation system. We’ve got a forgotten island there which potentially could cause some challenges.”

Tim Kocialek, the town’s infrastructure services general manager, said the OPP has been asked to pay more attention to the intersection when it’s busy with children crossing to go to school.

The MTO couldn’t accommodate the town with flashing signs. They’re not used in other areas and the ministry is required to be consistent throughout the province.

“One of the things we’re going to look at, too, is an option of doing a pilot project,” Kocialek said. “I don’t think it’ll happen overnight, but it’s something we’ll try to work with them and maybe put it in for next year or the following year.”

“Working with the MTO has been excellent on this item,” Mayor Lisa Post said. “They’ve been very responsive.”

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