DAN CEARNS The Standard
SCUGOG: The Township of Scugog has decided not to continue with having a crossing guard at the Port Perry intersection of Simcoe Street and Reach Street. The crossing guard at this location was originally added in September 2019 to keep children safe during the Region of Durham’s construction of this roadway area. The cost of the temporary guard was paid for by the Region of Durham. Though with construction now complete, Scugog staff have found the crossing guard is now unwarranted. “Staff have undertaken counts of students using the crossing at five different times, both during construction and after completion of construction. All counts were undertaken during periods of good weather. The number of elementary students crossing has ranged from three to seven students,” Carol Coleman, Scugog’s Director of Public Works, Parks and Recreation, explained in an email. “The OTC (Ontario Traffic Council) Manual recommends that to establish a consistent method of evaluation, a minimum number of students crossing during the school peak periods should be set at a threshold of 40 students. A lower value may be used at the discretion of each municipality. In June 2018, the Township completed a Core Services and Efficiency Review for a Crossing Guard Warrant Study. At that time Council passed a motion ‘that the minimum student volume be set at 12 students for the purposes of Crossing Guard Warrant analysis’.” Ms. Coleman added because of this information and the fact “the cost of a Crossing Guard is approximately 10 thousand dollars per year,” the decision was made that the crossing guard “not be continued at the location after December 20th, 2019.” Road work done at this intersection included adding a new southbound right turn lane onto Reach Street, and a new northbound advance left turn phase onto Reach Street, replacing the existing sidewalk along the east side of Simcoe Street with a new multi-use path, replacing the existing sidewalk along the south side of Reach Street with a new multi-use path, adding a new sidewalk along the west side of Simcoe Street, placing new asphalt on Simcoe and Reach Street, and the replacement and installation of new traffic lights and street lighting. “The new multi-use paths are three metres and are designed to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists. Additionally, in support of Durham Vision Zero, an additional crossride was added at the intersection which allows cyclists to safely ride through the intersection from the Reach Street multi-use path to the Simcoe Street multi-use path without needing to dismount,” read an email from Durham Region officials. Because of these changes, Region of Durham project manager Ben McWade told The Standard he believes “Scugog residents are going to have a safer, more efficient intersection.”