Changes could be coming to CBS’s worst intersection

By Craig Westcott

It’s possible the permanent changes to the busy intersection at Dunns Hill Road and Route 60 may not be permanent after all.

CBS Deputy Mayor Andrea Goose said Tuesday that council has been meeting with a group of residents and representatives of All Saints Anglican Parish about problems at the intersection since the Town implemented traffic calming equipment at the entrance to Dunns Hill Road last year. Council opted to make those changes permanent last summer following a three-year study and a pilot project and recommendations from engineering consultants.

But Gosse, who is the ward presentative for the area, confirmed Tuesday that changes are possible.

“There is a residents group that we’ve met with a couple of times,” said Gosse. “They wanted the whole of council to hear their concerns regarding the changes that were made at Dunns Hill and the impact on the surrounding area. We had a great meeting and then we brought it to the engineering committee meeting and had a really good discussion on it. There are some issues that we would like to try to work through for traffic calming going forward. No decisions are made. It’s just an ongoing discussion and consultation so we will be consulting with the traffic consultants and working a plan forward.”

Gosse said some of the complaints are about the inconvenience of using the intersection, which council isn’t concerned about.

Goose noted when the consultants initially looked at the intersection, their first recommendation was to close it completely and make Dunns Hill Road a cul-de-sac. The second recommendation was to add the traffic calming barriers that are there now.

“This was more about traffic calming and safety on Route 60 than it was about Dunns Hill Road,” Gosse said. “We went with the pilot project, but things you talk about in theory and the experts talk about in theory, sometimes they work differently in practice.”

For instance, Goose pointed out, the changes have resulted in more drivers using the All Saints Parish Church property as a shortcut to avoid the intersection. That has created an unsafe situation, she said.

There has also been an increase in accidents at the intersection of Greeleytown Road and All Saints Road, Gosse noted. Greeleytown Road is connected to Dunns Hill Road via All Saints Road.

“It’s a densely populated area, and Greeleytown Road is not a wide road,” said Gosse. “We don’t have sidewalks; the shouldering is minimal. So, the people are very concerned about the area and we are looking to see what we can do, what kind of traffic calming things we can implement. While no decisions have been made it is a priority on our radar.”

Gosse admitted because of the layout of Route 60 and the intersections of Greeleytown Road and Dunns Hill Road, along with the poor sightlines and extremely heavy traffic, a solution isn’t easy.

“It’s a challenging spot, without a doubt,” she said. “The issues are with driver behaviour. If we didn’t have poor driver behaviour, we wouldn’t need traffic calming programs. That’s what we’re working through – people cutting through the church parking lot because they don’t want the inconvenience of going to Greeleytown Road. And we all know All Saints Church is a very busy community place, whether it’s for community functions or funerals or whatever. They can’t close off the parking lot. When they have events there, they need both the upper and the lower parking lots, but they’ve had some near misses there.”

Another problem is that there is no safe place to cross the four lanes of Route 60 near the Dunns Hill Road intersection.

“The residents are wanting to see a traffic light there,” Gosse said. “The experts are saying because of the (poor) sightlines, that is an unlikely possibility, it’s probably not a safe option. But there is nowhere safe to cross the road.”

Gosse said the upgrades being made further east at the intersection of Route 60 and Terminal Road will allow for a crosswalk at the traffic lights there. There is also a crosswalk at Greeleytown Road.

“The residents are valid in their points ,” Gosse said. “But the solutions have to be ones that are also safe. And it’s about money too. It has to be feasible.”

Goose said council had a “very good discussion” with staff after its last meeting with the residents.

“We realize there are some things we need to work forward and see what we can do with regards to helping the area,” she said.