The Citizen, 2016-12-22, Page 36PAGE 36. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2016.
Knott to present traffic light petition to county
By Denny Scott
The Citizen
North Huron Township Council
has approved a letter of support for
Councillor Bill Knott's petition to
have immediate action taken to
address traffic concerns at County
Roads 4 and 25 in the form of traffic
lights.
Knott presented parts of the
petition to council Monday night,
saying that, based on estimates of
the remaining documents coming in,
the petition has reached more than
1,000 signatures.
"I'm bringing this forward to you
today because this is a Huron
County issue, not a North Huron
issue," Knott explained. "I'm going
to take this petition to the county."
Knott then introduced Chris
Patterson, a Blyth resident who was
involved in a collision at the
intersection. He started a Facebook
group around the same time Knott
was preparing his petition last
month.
"I was involved in a collision at
County Roads 4 and 25 on Nov. 16
at 10 a.m.," he said. "It is a day I will
always remember."
Patterson was heading north on
Highway 4 coming into Blyth, just a
short distance from his home, when
he was struck by another driver
travelling westbound on County
Road 25.
"It took me about 30 seconds to
realize what had happened," he said.
"Once I came to my senses, my first
response was to see how the other
person was"
Patterson explained that when he
saw that it was a Red Grand Am, he
was concerned, but his heart dropped
when he saw a children's car seat in
the back of the car.
"I went to see if the other person
was okay," he said. "No child was in
the car seat, just a young woman,
who was very scared, and kept
saying that she didn't see me"
Patterson said he believed the
young woman when she said she
didn't see him.
"That corner is a very hard corner
and that was before Tim Hortons
was put there," he said. "It's even
harder to see now"
Patterson said that Bill McGrath,
the owner of the new Tim Hortons,
signed the petition and shared a story
about how he had nearly been hit
there in the time since the store
opened.
Patterson said that after his
collision he went home and started
the Facebook group which has just
shy of 1,000 members now, and said
it wasn't something he would
normally do.
"I went to bed that night and
thought about it and decided to take
it down the next day but, when I
woke up, I had 100 people following
the page," he said. "By lunch I had
200, by supper 500 and in four days
I had 800 people."
Patterson said people have taken to
the Facebook page, called Blyth
Residents for Stoplights, to share
their stories about collisions and
close calls at the intersection.
"It was moving," he said, adding
that's why he was at the meeting,
being the voice of 1,000 people.
"People stop me in the grocery
store... and shake my hand. It's a big
concern that everyone's involved
with."
Patterson explained he has been to
villages and towns to drop off
petitions and everyone has a story
about someone being impacted by a
collision at the corner. He said that
many of them shared the same story,
proving how a collision can change
not only the lives of those involved
but the community at large as well.
With all the development near the
intersection, plus the reconditioning
of the soccer field, Patterson said
that traffic needs to be dealt with not
just as a precaution against collisions
but also because of the increase in
pedestrian traffic there.
"We can't slow traffic down, we
need to stop it," he said. "We need
sidewalks. People are investing in
Blyth and North Huron is investing
in Blyth. We need Huron County to
invest in Blyth."
Knott then presented his motion
for a letter of support, which was
discussed and moved by council.
Reeve Neil Vincent said the
intersection was poorly engineered
with low -points that cause vehicles
to have poor lines of sight for
oncoming traffic.
"There are a number of things
wrong with that corner," he said. "If
we aren't going to correct them all,
we need to do something to slow or
stop the traffic."
Vincent said he had not signed the
petition because he felt that, as a
member of Huron County Council,
he should present his support
through the proper channels.
"I whole-heartedly support it and
will support it in the discussion at
county council," he said.
The motion was carried and Knott
said he would present the petition
and any letters of support he gets at
Huron County Council on Jan. 4 as a
concerned citizen, not a
representative of North Huron
Council.
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