Adam Prudhomme
Editor
Work to transform the high-collision intersection of Belleville Road and Deseronto Road into a roundabout will begin next spring.
Tomlinson Construction Services has been selected to do the work, which is scheduled to be complete by fall of 2021.
Because the road serves as an Emergency Detour Route to Hwy 41, the intersection is expected to remain open throughout the project.
The push to turn the intersection into a roundabout, which features stop signs on the north and south side of the Deseronto Road side of the intersection, has been ongoing for quite a few years. Cars travelling along Belleville Road-also known as County Road 1 West, are not required to stop. The intersection has been the site of several collisions over the years, many of them serious as the speed limit for the road is 80 km.
“I don’t know what’s been causing the collisions,” said Chris Wagar, director of infrastructure services with Lennox and Addington County. “Currently it’s a safe intersection. It’s designed properly. Whether it’s that Tyendinaga Township has a four-way stop at the one just to the west (of the Deseronto Road intersection) and north-south bound traffic are expecting the east-west traffic to stop, I don’t know. Our residents are definitely looking forward to having that roundabout installed.”
Studies conducted by the OPP and traffic engineers have yet to pinpoint exactly why collisions occur at that site at a much higher than average rate.
Funding for the project is a combined effort between L&A County, Hastings County, the Town of Greater Napanee and Tyendinaga Township.
Wagar says a roundabout installed in L&A County at the intersection of County Road 2 and County Road 4 back in 2009 had the desired effect of reducing accidents and he expects the same result at the Deseronto Road crossing. He also noted roundabouts have become more common in Ontario over the last decade, meaning more drivers will have experience with them.
Wagar says some needed hydro work in the area meant work on the roundabout had to wait until that was completed. Culverts installation at the intersection has also been completed which means the main work can begin once the warm weather arrives.