Adam Bramburger
Beaver Staff
The intersection with the highest collision volume in Lennox and Addington County has been receiving some attention lately as officials address short-term and long-term safety measures.
Drivers might have noticed some changes at the corner of County Rds 1 and 10 (Belleville Road and Deseronto Road) lately. Gone is a flashing beacon overhead and a series of other signage alerting drivers going north-south on County Rd. 10 that cross traffic doesn’t stop.
Lennox and Addington County roads and bridges manager Chris Wagar told the Beaver this week the installation of a roundabout is traffic engineers’ preferred solution, but in the meantime efforts have been undertaken to simplify the signage at the site.
“The intent of the extra signage was to let people know there was a high-collision intersection ahead, but these were not Ontario Traffic Manual-approved signs,” Wagar said. “They might have drawn people away from the intersection. We’ve removed the additional stop signs and removed the overhead beacon. The beacon — studies in the States show — can confuse people where they think it’s an all-way stop.”
Wagar said red flashers have been also installed atop the stop signs and stop-ahead signs with flashers have also been introduced. The changes were made following a recent collision at the site July 8, but Wagar said staff are still monitoring the effectiveness of the changes.
That July 8 collision brought about a flurry of attention on social media with volunteer Greater Napanee firefighter Joe Reid not mincing comments on a well-read Facebook post.
“How many car accidents need to happen at the intersection of Deseronto Road and Belleville Road before we put up a 4-way stop or a roundabout? The fire department gets called to one-two accidents per month there, usually high impact. That’s been going on for years now,” he wrote, suggesting tax dollars spent on accident response would have paid for the roundabout some time ago.
Wagar said there have been public questions about installing a four-way stop for some time. He said the Ontario Traffic Manual advises four-way stops shouldn’t be considered unless cross legs of traffic have similar volume. In 2017, the average daily count was 4,532 vehicles east-west and 1,240 north-south.
The Ontario Traffic Manual also suggests sightlines are adequate now. Wagar suggested a lack of familiarity with the intersection may also not be a deciding factor.
“It’s mixed, there have been local people and people from as far away as St. Catharines in accidents. People just don’t stop. People stop and still proceed when cars are coming,” he said. “There’s nothing outstanding at this intersection that would warrant improvements. We’re moving forward with the roundabout to protect local residents and visitors.”
The installation of that roundabout has actually been in Lennox and Addington County’s capital plans for some time, but it faces a challenge in that it shares responsibility for the intersection with Tyendinaga Township. Wagar said the two municipalities have been discussing a joint application to complete the work for some time. Last week, Tyendinaga Township council took a step toward the roundabout by approving a joint application to the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund (OCIF) to improve the intersection, upgrade County Rd. 10 and its Hwy 401 commuter lot.
If approved, the municipalities would split the estimated $1.8-million project cost evenly with OCIF providing 90 per cent of Tyendinaga’s costs. Lennox and Addington recently received OCIF funding for another project and was not eligible. Wagar said Lennox and Addington would fund its portion through reserves or its 2019 roads budget, adding the project has remained a long-term plan for several years.
Wagar said Lennox and Addington had success with a decision to put a roundabout at the corner of County Rds. 2 and 4 as the severity and amount of collisions at that intersection had decreased significantly since its construction in 2009.