Town tackling traffic flow
Drivers and pedestrians are going to see changes along Route 60, thanks to recent decisions by the Town of Conception Bay South.
Some long overdue initiatives focus on pedestrian safety and slowing traffic through the busy main road or highway that runs through our town.
Of course, the slowing of traffic will create new complaints about how long it takes to get around with all the congestion, a reality in a time when we are so dependent on our vehicles.
Route 60 is the original country road that connected us with the city. It runs more than 20 kilometres from Topsail to Seal Cove.
The road must be a road or transportation professional’s worst nightmare.
It grew with the community, so there are driveways and side roads everywhere instead of tidy town blocks with intersections to facilitate traffic and public safety.
The speed limit is 50 km/h but the addition of two more lanes in some areas makes it look and feel like a highway, and it is, with speeding a common complaint. There are few crosswalks and where they exist they are often ignored.
With ongoing complaints about speeding and safety, the town is finally working on improvements.
To start, $9,500 was approved in early December for a traffic calming policy being prepared by Harbourside Transportation Consultants.
We have not heard anything about the policy and what it’s intended to do for the town. Traffic calming usually involves changes to slow and better manage traffic and improve safety and neighbourhoods.
So, while the calming policy work is underway, it seems the town is not waiting for the findings before taking action. Many decisions are already made and outlined in a recent public notice about traffic safety in our town.
About $1.2 million is allocated for upcoming work, which includes pedestrian-activated traffic lights in school zones.
Traffic lights are also being installed at some busy intersections such as Dunn’s Hill Road in Foxtrap and Anchorage Road in Long Pond.
The town has purchased 10 of those solar powered traffic or radar units that tell you your speed.
The units will be in school zones to slow traffic. Perhaps they will also show up on some of our 30 km/h or 40 km/h side roads where drivers consistently ignore the posted limit.
There are also plans to install crosswalks in conjunction with the development of the T’Railway, which should make it easier for people to use the former rail bed, now a world-class walking trail.
The traffic safety notice also referred to implementation of the town’s Mainstreet Improvement Plan. The plan outlines a variety of traffic and other improvements to the downtown core from Manuels Bridge to Terminal Road in Long Pond. The vision is to give the area more of a mainstreet feel rather than a four-lane highway.
With all the plans to improve the main route in C.B.S. there is still the question of why the town is assuming responsibility for all these safety improvements when the road is owned by the provincial government.
The province seems to keep up the pavement and snowclearing, but the rest is left to the town. It is not our responsibility, but imagine the state of our road if our council didn’t take leadership and use tax money to look after our safety.
Citizen of the Year
Robert Hiller, president of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 50 in Kelligrews, was named the C.B.S. Lions Club Citizen of the Year on Saturday evening during the club’s annual charter night event.
Hiller has spearheaded some major building improvements and programs for veterans, and his work has resulted in an increase in membership for the local branch.