COURTNEY McCLURE, The Standard
UXBRIDGE: In support of the road safety action plan, Durham Vision Zero, the Region of Durham will change some traffic signals in Uxbridge.
These changes were made on February 16th, at the intersection of Brock and Toronto Street.
The Township fully supports the Vision Zero project from the Region of Durham, which aims to create safer roads for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists, said Uxbridge’s Mayor, Dave Barton.
“We had to find a compromise,” said Mayor Barton. “I’ve heard from residents, who feel the delay is too long when driving through town, and from residents, who now feel safer crossing the road, particularly with children and strollers. That is a busy intersection, with lots of volume and trucks, and we have had a couple [of] incidents where pedestrians had close calls. We wanted to make it safer for pedestrians before someone got hurt.”
The Township, along with the Region, will continue to monitor traffic at this intersection and make changes as needed.
According to a press release, written by the Region of Durham, the sequence of traffic signals, and the timing and order of the traffic lights, will be updated.
This will separate the pedestrians crossing (on the south side of the intersection) from the westbound left turning lane and its vehicles. This also applies to the pedestrians crossing on the north side, from the eastbound left turning lane.
“While this change has increased wait times, for vehicles and pedestrians at the intersection, the expected safety benefits for pedestrians outweigh the slight delay,” explained Mr. Kemp.
This change has been implemented as a “pilot,” with benefits and impacts being closely monitored.
According to Steve Kemp, manager of traffic engineering and operations at the Region of Durham, now, pedestrians can cross in the east-west direction, on the north and south-side crosswalks, without interrupting vehicles turning left.
This change aims to increase safety for pedestrians crossing at this intersection, wrote the Region.
To learn more about Durham Vision Zero, please visit durham.ca/VisionZero.