Learn the issues, know the area and meet the candidates
IT’S A QUAINT village on the outskirts of Hamilton that has become one of the fastest-growing areas of the city — and along with the surging population, traffic woes are plaguing this once-quiet hamlet.
Like many other areas in Hamilton experiencing massive-scale development, traffic concerns are top-ofmind for Waterdown residents.
The most pressing infrastructure need, according to local residents, is the Waterdown Bypass East West Corridor — additional roads that will get traffic off of Dundas Street and spread the flow of traffic more evenly around Waterdown. The city’s newly released traffic master plan has promised $18 million for the eastwest bypass, though that cash won’t be coming until 2021.
The traffic chaos in Waterdown has already led to tragedy: 10-year-old Jasmin Hanif was struck and killed while trying to cross Evans Road in heavy traffic in 2017.
Evans posed a particular traffic problem, as it sits on the eastern edge of Waterdown and often becomes a thoroughfare for drivers speeding between Dundas Street and Parkside Drive. The formerly rural road, now surrounded by residential development, has no sidewalks and is lined with ditches.
Jasmin’s father, Shakeel Hanif, has pleaded with councillors for road safety improvements. While new signs, lighting and traffic dividers have since been installed on Evans Road, other roads in the area remain unsafe.
“Signs are not enough, (knockdown) sticks are not enough. People just drive over them,” the still-grieving father told The Spectator last month. “You need to be able to force people to slow down. You need enforcement ... I’m not seeing that.”
Other issues
High property taxes remain one of the top issues for urban Waterdown and rural east Flamborough. Both local candidates have expressed concern about the impact that the cancellation of area rating for transit could have on Waterdown homes.
Police presence
Calls for bricks-and-mortar police presence have been particularly loud in recent years in Flamborough. Complaints about response times arose most recently after the death of Jasmin Hanif. But even two years prior to that accident, residents at a Waterdown meeting had already told police they’d given up reporting crimes despite a spate of break-ins and vehicle thefts.