Residents set to win fight for three-way stop at Wells and Cousins

March 11, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Brock Weir

Persistence is set to pay off this week for residents of Cousins Drive lobbying for a three-way stop at their intersection with Wells Street.

Councillors overturned a recommendation from Town Staff last week not to proceed with the three-way stop, following concerns from area residents. This decision is expected to be ratified at Council this week.

Residents in the area have ramped up their concerns in recent years, citing speeding and other safety issues at the corner, near Town Park, describing the situation in a letter to Council as a “ticking time bomb.”

According to Town Staff, however, traffic rates did not warrant a three-way stop in the area.

“The average volume entering the intersection from all approaches is 124 vehicles per hour for an eight hour period,” said Jamal Massadeh, Traffic Analyst for the Town of Aurora, in a report to Council, noting the threshold is 350 vehicles per hour. “The combined average vehicular and pedestrian traffic from Wells Street is 36 units for the same eight hour period, which is below the required average traffic volumes. Based on the low traffic volumes observed during peak and off-peak hours, the required traffic volume warrant has not been met.”

Neighbours, however, came to Town Hall last week to dispute these findings, saying they appreciated the findings of the analyst, but the day chosen to measure the intersection was “pouring rain” resulting in less-than-normal vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

“This is our third time here in the past eight years,” said Emily Stewart. “We’re definitely persistent. We’d like to say we’re going to go away if this doesn’t go through, but we’re going to be back and you’ll get to know our faces. [In looking at the criteria] for a three-way stop sign, we saw that three accidents per year is also a consideration. The report said there were no accidents reported in the last three years, but as a resident who lives three houses up, there have been accidents.”

Added fellow resident Sunny Matheson-Davies: “Even though you might not see it on paper in any research you have done, there are definitely accidents happening for sure. There is no safe passage for our children. It is just shocking it has gone on for this long. Forget cars, speed, and whatever, [with] the family sizes that are there now we just feel it is imperative there is safe passage for us and our children.”

The women added on the nearest block alone live 20 children under the age of 10, with the vast majority being under five.