Creemore residents petition council for traffic calming measures
A group of Creemore residents is hoping Clearview will hear their concerns and implement traffic-calming measures in the village.
Elizabeth Street East resident Doug Mills, on behalf of the citizen group, made a presentation to council on June 13 requesting additional stop signs and lowered speed limits.
He said Creemore is a “walking village” without sidewalks on Elizabeth and Mary streets or the west end of George Street and the village is a destination for tourists, hikers, cyclists and area residents attracted by its charm and numerous special events, but some motorists pay little regard to the current 50 km/h speed limit in residential areas.
Traffic counts done by the Clearview Community Policing Committee, which does support the traffic calming initiative, show that a high per cent travel at or below the speed limit or, at what the OPP consider to be a tolerable rate of speed. The community group believes local people skew the data and it is the through traffic coming from the arterial roads that is travelling at a higher rate of speed.
In the past decade, says Mills, about 25 new houses have been built on the east side of Creemore, specifically on Edward and George streets and there are new houses on Mary and Elizabeth streets, said Mills.
They point out, a stop sign at Mary and Edward was removed.
Mills, with fellow residents Carol Ray and Linda Coulter, has circulated a petition throughout the neighbourhood and more than 95 per cent of the 75 households supported traffic calming measures.
The group is asking specifically for a four-way stop at the intersection of George and Mary streets, to discourage speeding and make the intersection safer.
They are also advocating for stop signs on Elizabeth Street East at Library Street (either reversing the existing signs or making the intersection a four-way stop) and another on Mary Street at Francis Street East, making it a three-way stop, to calm traffic in the area of Gowan Memorial Park and Creedan Valley nursing home.
They say Mary Street is currently unsigned and unimpeded for a 1.75 km distance from County Road 9 to George Street.
In addition to the stop signs, they are requesting a speed limit of 30-40 km/h be imposed throughout the village, supported by adequate signage to inform drivers of the risk to pedestrians.
Council directed staff to bring a report back on July 18.
I would love to see a flashing yellow light or 4-way stop at the corner of County Road 9 and Collingwood Street, where the Nottawasaga Creemore P.S. is situated–which includes all the young students. The speeders through this school zone is unreal. Many of the offenders are big trucks and other non-residents passing through from 124 to Airport Road. OPP does set up, from time-to-time, a speed trap at this corner which I’m happy to see, but they don’t come until after 9am. From what I have seen, the biggest culprits are driving between 6am and 9am, as well as 3pm until 6pm. Aside from the safety measures, I’m not sure anyone has even considered the amount of dust and sand that gets stirred up into the air and deposited on our lawns and into our homes at these faster speeds. Locals know the pace of the town and aren’t in such a hurry. I totally support traffic calming measures!