Winter Avenue traffic pilot project to stay the course
Motion to abandon temporary restrictions before September voted down by council
The restrictions on Winter Avenue will remain in place until the end of the pilot project which aims to stem the flow of traffic through the narrow street in the city’s east end.
Councillor at Large Dave Lane proposed a motion to have the restrictions abandoned early as they were already creating issues among drivers.
Those restrictions include closing access to the narrow street from King’s Bridge Road and making the small section between the mouth of Judge Place and the King’s Bridge Road-winter Avenue intersection a one-way street.
“As I listened to the feedback, I started getting visions of 10times more frustration, confusion, challenges, and congestion come September in particular, which is a large part of the pilot project,” Lane said. “It’s not actually solving the speeding issue, it’s solving a flow issue. So the number of vehicles is going down, but it doesn’t do anything to stop the speeding there.”
In place of restrictions, Lane was proposing to have speed bumps or cushions installed and to have a full traffic study of the area implemented with the goal of improving the flow and safety of traffic.
Deputy Mayor Ron Elsworth, Ward 4 Coun. Sheilagh O’leary, who spearheaded the call for the pilot project, and all the remaining members of council voted in favour of allowing the pilot project to run its course in an effort to gain valuable information and evidence on traffic in the area.
“This one I can already see the end of and I was trying to cancel the confusion before it got worse. I appreciate where council is coming from and I’ll stand by what council decided.
“I hope that whatever we do decide to go through and whatever the pilot project comes up with that we get a broader solution. Let’s look at those other streets and say, ‘what can we do to make sure traffic flow is as effective and safe as it can be.’”
O’leary, Coun. Danny Breen, and a number of other councillors were of the opinion that similar issues exist throughout the city and that perhaps the time has come to review the city and regional transportation plan.
“I’m not sure when last one was done but I do know we’re dealing with these issues almost on a weekly basis and ward councillors are dealing with them on a daily basis and it’s time that we stepped back and had a good look,” Breen said.