City can’t be blamed for bad driving habits, mayor says

DiMarco still complaining about stop sign

A stop sign at Wellandvale and Goodwillie drives is a safety hazard, one created by the City of Welland, says Tony DiMarco.

The Ward 4 councillor raised the issue, for the second time in four months, at Tuesday night’s council meeting.

“I had a complaint from a second resident in regard to the new, clearly unwarranted stop sign on Wellandvale and Goodwillie,” the councillor said.

The intersection is a threeway stop, with signs installed on Wellandvale this year. DiMarco said a resident who complained said a person on Goodwillie backed out of their driveway onto the street and nearly caused a collision. The councillor said the stop sign is an accident waiting to happen and something needs to be done about it.

He asked for a comment from Erik Nickel, the city’s acting general manager of infrastructure services.

Said Mayor Frank Campion: “I don’t know how Mr. Nickel can comment about someone backing out of their driveway and not looking.”

Nickel said people are expected to follow the rules of the road, and added any further action would require council direction.

Campion said if people are backing out of their driveways without looking, the onus is on Niagara Regional Police to enforce it under the Highway Traffic Act.

Nickel said city staff have an ongoing dialogue with police and would be happy to bring the issue to police attention.

DiMarco didn’t believe police could sit around and wait for an accident to happen.

“We created this … how can this be a police issue? We created a safety issue,” he said.

Campion asked how someone backing out of their driveway without looking is a problem created by the city.