Clearview council approves 3-way stop in Nottawa

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Clearview Township council has approved the installation of two stop signs in Nottawa to create a three-way stop at the intersection of Queen Street East and Townley Street.

The gallery at town hall in Stayner was packed with children and their parents June 27, the night an on-desk recommendation to install the stop signs from Deputy Mayor Barry Burton was considered by council.

Burton said the request was tabled on behalf of parents who voiced concerns about speeding in their neighbourhood at a June 22 town hall meeting.

“It has been observed for some time that vehicles travelling both north and south on Townley Street are exceeding speed limits. This is a route where many children are walking to school. Lack of sidewalks and wide shoulders is putting our youth at risk,” reported Burton.

In a letter dated April 27, a group of parents wrote to the mayor and council saying there are eight families with 20 children, many of whom are under the age of seven, living in the immediate area. They also presented to council a petition with just over 200 signatures.

“Because of the traffic speed and at times complete disregard for children riding bikes and crossing the street, there is a significant risk to our children,” states the letter. “We know that you have been responsive to township resident issues in the past and hope that you will make the safety of our children a priority and support our request for a three-way stop.”

On Monday Collingwood resident and former councillor Norman Sandberg spoke on behalf of the residents of the neighbourhood, where his daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren reside. He thanked Burton and Councillor Doug Measures for working with the residents and bringing the recommendation to council.

He acknowledged that from a technical perspective, there isn’t adequate traffic counts to justify a three-way stop.

“I certainly would not want my grandchildren to be statistics to justify the warrants and I certainly wouldn’t want any of the neighbourhood children to be statistics either,” said Sandberg.

Burton said normally council when considering such a request would ask for a report from staff but he didn’t feel a report was necessary at this stage.

“When I was running, my campaign was to be the voice of the people and it was very loud and clear at that Nottawa meeting what the people wanted. They were adamant about the stop signs for safety reasons and I totally support that we go ahead and proceed with these stop signs,” said Burton.

Measures echoed support for the recommendation saying it has been raised in the past and residents continue to be concerned.

“It is noted that the speeding and traffic problems continue to be something that all of us as residents have to deal with on every road in our township and this is a really good example of how some citizens have got together, formed a petition, have raised a great deal of awareness and to their credit, have reduced the speeds on that road by putting up those awesome ‘slow down’ signs. They have led a really good charge on this and now it’s up to us to set up three-way stops that are being requested,” said Measures adding it doesn’t cost very much.

At the June 13 meeting, a group of Creemore citizens presented a petition and asked for stop signs in Creemore. In both cases, CAO Steve Sage said 80 to 85 per cent are travelling within the speed limit.

In that case, council did request staff to report back with traffic data, which is expected to come to council on July 18. That same day, council will consider a bylaw to establish the new three-way stop in Nottawa.

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