All the right moves
Q: Why, oh why, did the MTO ever remove the signs that tell drivers “Slower Traffic Keep to the Right”? Driving the 406 is a pain in the butt. You have two cars both going slow. One in the right lane and one in the left lane. Nobody can get by! Or you have to pass on the right because that car (in the left lane) who just refuses to move over to the right lane. It is very aggravating. I get someone riding my bumper thinking it is me who is going slower. Are these signs EVER going to back up? They need to go back up!
A: Rage not Niagara. “Slower Traffic Keep Right” signs are making a comeback in Ontario.
Ministry of Transportation spokeswoman Michelle Mendonca said in an email the ministry has started a project to install the signs on provincial highways in rural areas.
In Niagara, the installation list includes signs on the QEW west of Seventh Street Louth, on the QEW from Glendale Avenue to Fort Erie and at various points along Highways 406, 405 and 420.
The installation is prioritized against other provincial needs and is subject to available funding, she said.
What happened to the signs that disappeared?
Mendonca said over time some may have been knocked over by errant vehicles and winter maintenance activities. If the MTO is made aware of a damaged or missing sign, it will replace it. That’s what’s happening now. She said the ministry recently became aware that some “Slower Traffic Keep Right” signs are missing in its freeway network and started the design work to replace them.
Typically, they’ll be put on multi-lane divided and undivided highways where its necessary to direct slower vehicles to move over.
But the signs may also be used in other areas where Mendonca said problems have been experienced with slow-moving vehicles congesting the left lane “and possibly provoking erratic passing behaviour.”
Q: The break wall in Fort Erie has been left open for two years. Originally it was damaged in five places during a violent storm. Niagara Parks has placed temporary barriers up but have not shown any progress toward a permanent repair. When will construction begin?
A: Repairs to the damaged breakwall in Fort Erie are expected to begin this year.
A storm took out sections of the wall in several locations along the Niagara River between the Peace Bridge and extending south to Old Fort Erie. Those sections were fenced off for public safety.
Niagara Parks Commission spokeswoman Holly Goertzen said the commission has assessed the damage to the breakwall and how stable the ground is around it.
Staff have secured the damaged areas and will start remediation work on the soil stabilization within the next three to four weeks, she said in an email.
Design work has already begun on the breakwall and Goertzen said the project will be tendered in September. Construction is anticipated to start in October.
Q: Along the east QEW on the north side of the North Service Road in Beamsvillle, a building is under construction for a very long time. We drive by it on a daily basis and there is no information as to why it has taken so long to complete. It is of concrete construction and seems there is a lot of insulation surrounding the frame of the building. Is it a home or some sort of storage facility?
A: The building rising across from Lincoln Town Hall is hard to miss.
It’s surrounded by fields next to the road, so it stands out on its own.
Kathleen Dale, director of planning and development for the town, said it’s a private home.