Just waiting to happen

After several near misses, Bob Leach and neighbour Blaine Allen are calling on the town to take action

TRURO, N.S. – Two speeding drivers and a recent brush with death was the last straw for Bob Leach.

He had narrowly avoided getting his vehicle t-boned at the junction of Upham Drive and Polymer Road on Dec. 9. The incident came after Leach and his wife Kathy Putnam have spent months calling on the town to improve traffic safety at the junction.

“They’re probably going to wait until someone is killed; I don’t know how to prevent that and the councillors don’t respond,” said Leach. “It’s going to happen.”

He said the two drivers he encountered were likely racing each other at speeds of up to 80 km/h in a 50 km/h zone. While stop signs are posted for drivers approaching the intersection on Polymer, both Leach and his wife Kathy Putnam say they were too small and hard to see.

Truro Mayor Bill Mills said street racing was not a particular problem at Upham and Polymer.

But he acknowledged speeding or inattentive drivers were a problem both at the intersection and elsewhere in Truro.

Mills said the town planned to install a digital speed limit sign at the intersection, letting drivers know how fast they were going. He said drivers failing to yield to pedestrians at crossings was another issue around town.

In Mills’s view, drivers needed reminding that pedestrians do have the right of way, even where they too needed to pay attention at intersections.

“We’re certainly having a look at it,” said Mills. “We also need to get some education put forward.”

But Leach is not the only one who had a close shave at Upham and Polymer.

His neighbour Blaine Allen said he and his son narrowly escaped being t-boned after spotting another vehicle “from the corner of my eye.” On other occasions, he has been cut off by trucks or cars pulling out in front of him.

“You never know what they’re going to do,” said Allen.

Complicating matters is the fact that Polymer and Upham intersect at the bottom of a slope. This reduces visibility for approaching drivers, who cannot see past bushes and other obstructions surrounding the roads.

Leach wanted chevrons placed on the roads leading up to the intersection. He often saw them while living in England and said they were a good way to make drivers slow down.

Mills said he had discussed the possibility of chevrons at other intersections, but the idea was turned down.

Director of Public Works Andrew Mackinnon said the volume of traffic on Polymer and Upham was not large enough to justify turning it into a four-way stop intersection. Nor did it warrant the placing of road chevrons.

He also said the visibility of the junction’s existing stop signs was good and there was no recorded history of accidents.

However, he did say the police could monitor the area for dangerous driving.

Meantime, Mills said he was in talks with police and town officials about Polymer and Upham.