The Citizen, 2017-03-02, Page 25THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, MARCH 2, 2017. PAGE 25.
County to track Blyth intersection through 2018
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
Huron County Council has
decided to take a wait-and-see
approach to the intersection of Blyth
and London Roads and the many
residents who feel a traffic solution
is necessary.
At council's committee of the
whole meeting on Feb. 22, Huron
County Engineer Steven Lund
presented a report on the intersection
and recommended the installation of
a four-way flashing beacon to help
bring attention to the stop signs on
the roads running east and west in
the intersection.
Several councillors, however, felt
there was too much changing at the
intersection to make a decision now
and said things may change in a
hurry and the county wouldn't want
to tie its own hands on the issue.
In his report, Lund said that
current traffic at the intersection
represents 55 per cent of the required
volume that would warrant traffic
signals. However, he suggested that
the county continue monitoring the
intersection and the impact the new
Tim Hortons development and Blyth
Cowbell Brewing Company make on
the intersection when the latter is
open to the public.
He did say, however, that neither
of the traffic impact studies
conducted for the Tim Hortons and
Cowbell concluded that traffic
volumes would rise high enough
post -development to meet traffic
volume requirements for a traffic
signal.
Pedestrian traffic, he said, is also
not a concern, saying that because
sidewalks don't extend to the
intersection, there aren't enough
pedestrians walking around the area
to expect any issues.
Motor vehicle collision concerns
were also not high enough to warrant
action, Lund said. Seven collisions
had been reported at the intersection
between 2014 and 2016. Four of the
seven collisions were a result of
drivers failing to yield at one of the
stops signs, while the other three
came as a result of drivers following
too closely.
None of these collisions, he told
council, are considered to be
reducible by traffic signals. If the
collisions involved turning or angle
movements, he said, they may have
been avoided by traffic signals, but
none involved such movements.
Also, because none of the
collisions resulted in fatalities, that
justification for traffic signals, he
said, has not been met by the
intersection.
Lund did say that speed continues
to be a concern with the average
approach speed being 68 kilometres
per hour in a 50- and 60 -kilometre -
per -hour zone on London and Blyth
Roads respectively.
With oversized stop signs and
rumble strips, the county has done
all it can do, short of a four-way
beacon or a traffic signal in order to
control traffic at the intersection,
Lund said in his report.
Cost was another concern, he told
councillors, in that the installation of
traffic signals would be $350,000
and the construction of a
roundabout, another solution
proposed by critics of the
intersection, would cost the county
between $1 million and $1.5 million.
A four-way flashing beacon, as
stated in Lund's recommendation,
would cost the county $25,000.
Warden Jim Ginn again expressed
his concerns, saying he felt that
traffic would be increasing
considerably at the intersection once
Blyth Cowbell Brewing Company
opened its doors to the public.
For this reason, he said, he felt the
justification for a traffic signal
would be there next year, but that the
county would need the data to prove
that need.
Ginn said that the owners of
Cowbell have grand plans to attract
"thousands, not hundreds" of people
to the area and he felt that once that
happened it might make sense to
install traffic signals.
He suggested that the county
continue to monitor the intersection
throughout 2017 and revisit the issue
in 2018.
North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent
addressed the lack of sidewalks at
the intersection, saying that the
township has acknowledged that the
intersection could be dangerous for
foot traffic and didn't want to
encourage more of it at the
intersection by installing sidewalks.
Howick Reeve Art Versteeg said
that he felt the development there
was solving the problem.
Versteeg, who says he drives
through the intersection weekly on
his way to Huron County Council
meetings in Goderich, said he had
noticed drivers slowing down to
gaze upon the development. He said
he had seen that drivers were being
more cautious as they drove through
the intersection because the area was
being built up.
Council passed Ginn's motion.
Staff will continue to monitor the
intersection throughout the year and
revisit it in 2018.
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