Region of Queens councillors have voted to move ahead with changes at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

The Region of Queens is going ahead with changes to the three-way stop in downtown Liverpool to address safety concerns from pedestrians and motorists.

At their Oct. 14 meeting, councillors voted in favour of three recommendations from consultants CBCL, who did a traffic study of the Main and Market intersection in February.

Those are: removing the separate westbound or right-turning lane on Main Street in front of the post office and adding a curb extension to shorten the crosswalk distance; adding tactile walking surface indicators to warn visually impaired pedestrians they’re entering or leaving a crosswalk; and removing or changing some of the parking near the intersection.

Mayor Scott Christian said after the meeting that council wants Director of Infrastructure Adam Grant to come back with a plan. 

Christian said he’s eager to see what could happen with the parking spaces. The region’s traffic study found that some collisions and near-collisions were caused by people entering or leaving the angled spots outside the post office.

“I’ll be interested to see what staff come up with in consultation with some experts to figure out what some other options for reconfiguration could look like there.”

CBCL representatives told councillors in July that the intersection can handle current and future traffic volumes without installing traffic lights.

The busy intersection has caused safety concerns for years. Council has returned to the issue repeatedly in the past without settling on a solution.

CBCL had asked staff whether the region wanted the study done during warmer weather in the spring when traffic activity would be higher. The region’s response was that the consultants should use their best judgement.

Deputy Mayor Maddie Charlton asked Grant whether the recommendation against traffic lights would have been different if the consultants had come later in the year. Grant said their conclusion about lights would have been the same.

“I think it was a valid point to be raised,” Christian said, “but I’m satisfied that our director of infrastructure felt that the methodology was appropriate.”

Christian said he’s not sure when council will see a plan for the changes at Main and Market streets. But it would have to be accounted for in next year’s budget before the work could begin. 

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The Region of Queens is going to make Cameron’s Corner in Liverpool an all-way stop. (Rick Conrad)

Drivers in downtown Liverpool will soon encounter another three-way stop on Main Street.

The changes are being made at the intersection of Main and Old Port Mouton Road, commonly known as Cameron’s Corner. 

In response to concerns from residents and councillors about safety in the area, the region’s traffic authority plans to turn it into an all-way stop.

Another busy intersection, the three-way stop at Main and Market streets, has been the scene of many close calls between pedestrians and motorists over the years.

A report prepared by consultants CBCL in June 2024 suggested a different option at Cameron’s Corner. It recommended that Main Street be turned into a throughfare, with a stop sign on Old Port Mouton Road. They also suggested narrowing the east Main Street approach and realigning parts of the intersection.  

The intersection is a busy one. It has one stop sign on Main Street at the eastbound approach, but the traffic coming from Old Port Mouton Road has the right-of-way.

The consultants said that it’s more intuitive for drivers on Main Street to have the right of way, with motorists on the minor road approach of Old Port Mouton required to stop.

Adam Grant is the Region of Queens director of infrastructure. He’s also the municipality’s traffic authority.

He told councillors at their regular meeting last week that the changes suggested by CBCL would cost about $120,000, an expense not included in this year’s operating budget.

Grant said that that part of Main Street is going to be turned into a three-way stop anyway with the planned work on the $21-million Mount Pleasant services extension and housing development at the other end of Main. And CBCL’s other recommendations for realigning the intersection will be included.

“So the intention is, once it’s converted to an all-way stop, it would stay an all-way stop in perpetuity, unless it was determined through further analysis that it wasn’t necessary and that it could be reverted to a one-way stop control,” Grant said. “The geometry realignment would be incorporated into next year’s capital work, the all-way stop would stay in that mannerism.”

Councillors can make suggestions to the traffic authority, but traffic changes are an administrative matter.

Mayor Scott Christian told QCCR that with the water and sewer upgrades planned with the Mount Pleasant work next year, some of the consultants’ changes will happen anyway.

“I think it’s a good piece of decision making, not to rip up and change that sidewalk to then next year, rip it up when we’re replacing the water and sewer through there. 
So with the recommendations from the CBCL report, we’ll make those alterations to the curb when we do the water-sewer work.”

Grant told councillors that Cameron’s Corner will be turned into an all-way stop this fall, with the appropriate signage to give drivers advance notice of an upcoming stop. He said the region will also let people know through social media in the next few weeks.

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A traffic study presented to Region of Queens council in July concluded that traffic lights are not needed at the Main and Market intersection in downtown Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

A Liverpool resident wants the Region of Queens to do a more comprehensive study of safety at a busy downtown intersection.

Paul Deveau says a recent look at traffic at Main and Market streets was insufficient.

“Is the current configuration of this intersection safe?” he told councillors during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s regular council meeting.

“A proper risk assessment survey conducted at this intersection would be done under the worst-case scenario, or optimum or peak usage, when both vehicle and pedestrian traffic are at their highest. It would look at not just volume, but the behaviour of the traffic, such as the percentage of the vehicles not coming to a complete stop or a rolling stop, but also look at pedestrians, and if they’re stopping or looking before crossing.”

The three-way stop is one of the most heavily travelled intersections in Liverpool. And it’s seen its share of collisions and near-misses.

It’s viewed by many as one of the most dangerous areas for pedestrians in downtown Liverpool.

Councillors voted this past February to spend $24,000 on the traffic study after a crosswalk collision in January 2024 sent a 79-year-old woman to hospital.

An earlier study was done in 2015. No significant changes were made at that time.

Consultants CBCL presented their findings to councillors on July 8. They concluded that the intersection could handle current traffic volumes without extra measures like traffic lights.

Paul Deveau spoke to regional council on Tuesday about the Main and Market intersection. (YouTube)

Deveau, who ran as a candidate in the 2024 municipal elections, said he looked at similar studies done in 50 other Canadian municipalities and they were all conducted in either early spring or late fall. He questioned why this study was conducted in February.

He said that on July 7, as he was sitting outside Main and Mersey Dining Room and Coffee Bar on Main Street, he counted 232 vehicles in about 25 minutes travelling toward the three-way stop. That was higher than the 119 total morning trips observed by the consultants and the 148 total afternoon trips.

“Why do an assessment on traffic in one of the slowest months of the year?” he told councillors.

“It only looked at the traffic volume with the assumption that the people using that intersection would behave in a manner that is predictable and by the letter of the law. This council already knows that they do not. So my question to the council is this, will the council conduct a comprehensive risk assessment on that intersection or stick with the bare minimum and use the current half-measure results to make a decision?”

Mayor Scott Christian said after the meeting that in response to Deveau’s concerns, he’s going to ask for an update on the intersection at Main and Market streets.

“And so I’ll be looking for some further information from staff on that one.”

Deveau told councillors he hopes they take a more robust look at safety in the area.

“So when an accident happens again at this intersection, not if, but when, is this the justification that you want to stand for not making a change? 
Is this what you want to tell the next person whose life could be forever altered or their family, that you did what you could do with the information provided? What if the next person was your family member?”

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The Main and Market intersection in downtown Liverpool will be the subject of a traffic study by CBCL. (Rick Conrad file photo)

The Region of Queens will spend about $24,000 to do a traffic study of a downtown Liverpool intersection that has seen its share of collisions and close calls.

Last January, a 79-year-old woman was taken to hospital after being struck in the crosswalk at the intersection of Main and Market streets.

That reignited concern in the community about safety at the three-way stop.

Adam Grant, the region’s director of infrastructure, told council this week the intersection regularly has peak traffic volumes of 200 to 250 vehicles.

“Going back over the last year, we had lots of conversations regarding this intersection. Council’s concerns over the safety of it to pedestrian and motorists alike. We’ve been back and forth a few different times with reports, different analysis, different investigation.”

The previous council asked on Oct. 8 to issue a call for proposals for a traffic study of the area.

Grant said engineering firm CBCL could begin that work as early as Feb. 17. It will include looking at this intersection and others nearby, and installing cameras to monitor traffic and pedestrian movement. The firm will also interview pedestrians and motorists and use modelling software, and itt will look at projected traffic loads in the area.

He said it will be a broader study than one the region commissioned in 2015 from Insight Traffic Engineering.

Coun. Maddie Charlton said that many of the incidents seem to occur in one particular crosswalk, which runs from the post office to Five Girls Baking. 

“There have been numerous pedestrians struck on one crosswalk in particular in this area with the most recent being the worst. Luckily, the woman who was struck survive. But it is an ongoing issue, and … although there haven’t been an insane amount of pedestrians hit, I think one is too many. And so we need to address that.

“I’m uncertain about this study in one sense, because I don’t know if it’s going to solve the problem that we want it to solve. … I’m curious why we couldn’t just remove that crosswalk in that specific area, given that there are other substantial crosswalks in that area.”

Grant said he’s not a traffic expert and he’s unsure whether that would be the best solution. 

“I’m by far a traffic expert and I think that this study is a good investment to assure that we have a path forward to provide the paramount safety at that intersection. 

“Every leg of an intersection is considered a crosswalk. Where you have increased pedestrian movement, you delineate that by putting a sign up or painting it. I’m not aware of anywhere that would have a prohibited crosswalk from occurring. So I think to do something like that, we need to to go beyond who we have in this room to make that decision (and) provide some advice and do it cautiously to make sure that we’re getting the right solution, trying to solve the problem we understand.”

In his report, Grant detailed 36 reported incidents in the area from 2009 to 2024, according to information provided by the Nova Scotia government.

Five of those involved pedestrians being hit by cars in the crosswalk. Other pedestrians have reported or witnessed near-collisions at that intersection.

Grant said the main focus of the study will be how to improve pedestrian safety in that intersection.

Mayor Scott Christian said he understands Charlton’s desire to address the issue as quickly as possible.

“Certainly we want to be well informed with respect to making the decisions, certainly don’t want to drag our feet on it. I know that this was something that was batted about a bit in the past, and it is a priority concern to be addressed for public safety.”

The study will be funded from the region’s accumulated surplus of $6 million. Grant said the company could report back to council as early as May.

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Region of Queens councillors want a staff report on installing traffic lights at the three-way stop at Main and Market Streets in downtown Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County pedestrians and motorists won’t see orange crosswalk flags at a busy intersection in downtown Liverpool, but they could see a return of traffic lights.

Region of Queens councillors on Tuesday voted against installing the flags at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets. But they did support getting a staff report on having full traffic lights at that intersection.

The area did have traffic lights decades ago, until they were damaged by a transport truck, and taken down.

Safety concerns have long been an issue at Main and Market streets. In 2015, regional councillors commissioned a study by Insight Traffic Engineering that found traffic control wasn’t an issue and recommended minor changes.

In 2019, councillors rejected installing pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights at a cost of $27,000.

But a collision in January which sent a 79-year-old woman to hospital rekindled concern in the community about safety at that intersection.

Councillors asked staff to come back with options about how to make that intersection safer. Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said in April that there is no evidence crosswalk flags would help. And he said pedestrian-controlled lights at that intersection could interrupt traffic flow and create more problems. He said it’s unusual to have the lights at a three-way stop.

The Town of Mahone Bay installed an all-way stop in 2021 near Saltbox Brewery on its Main Street. It also has flashing red lights and orange crosswalk flags for pedestrian use.

The all-way stop in Mahone Bay by Saltbox Brewery. (Google Streetview)

Even though councillors on Tuesday rejected the flags, they said action needs to be taken to make Main and Market intersection safer.

District 2 Coun. Maddie Charlton said that it will only get busier with the new Queens Manor, the apartment building planned off Bristol Avenue and the planned Mount Pleasant development expected to house up to 1,200 people.

Charlton asked staff for the traffic light report.

“When I look around at other communities that have these three-way intersections, they have lights. And so I think it’s important that we understand what the criteria (are) for those lights. If another option has presented itself that we can consider, I think that would be helpful to have. We need something that tells us how we could get those traffic lights, what the criteria is, so if we’re not there yet, when can we pull the trigger on them.”

District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said it’s time for the region to address the problem.

“One person getting hit there is too many, and it’s been many over the years. So I think we really need to look into this and go forward on this and not stall so much on this problem. I know it’s been years and years, but I think we need to find a way forward.”

District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy said the flags would have been better than nothing. And he said he also supports pedestrian-controlled lights.

“There’s always going to be issues with each thing, but I believe the good outweighs the bad with this. Especially, what we’re aiming for right now is doing nothing. And I don’t think doing nothing is the answer.”

District 6 Coun. David Brown said enforcement and education would resolve a lot of safety issues.

“The lights won’t stop cars, the lines on the pavement won’t stop cars. You have to look for yourself and guard your safety. We’ve got a lot of development coming and I’d like to know what would trigger a need for (traffic) lights at that intereseciton because I think the stop control works well now if we enforce it.”

Mayor Darlene Norman said that when the traffic lights were operating at that intersection years ago, it seemed to help.

On Tuesday, councillors also approved $1,000 to study the feasibility of reducing the speed limit on Main Street from School Street to Riverside Drive, near Fort Point Lighthouse Park.

Residents submitted a petition to council in November, asking them to improve traffic safety in the area by lowering the speed limit and installing an all-way stop at Main and School streets. 

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Region of Queens councillors plan to ask RCMP to step up enforcement efforts at the three-way stop at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad)

Queens County councillors grappled with traffic safety in downtown Liverpool at their meeting on Tuesday evening.

The intersection at Main and Market streets has been the scene of some close calls between motorists and pedestrians. And in January, a 79-year-old woman was hit in the crosswalk and taken to hospital in Bridgewater. A driver was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

The incident reignited concern in the community about that intersection and others in town. Councillors heard from their constituents that they needed to address safety in that area.

Some residents want the municipality to install pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights.

At their Jan. 23 meeting, councillors asked staff to review previous reports and studies about that intersection and come back with recommendations. They also asked staff to investigate adding fluorescent orange flags at that intersection for pedestrians to use while they cross.

On Tuesday evening, some councillors were in favour of trying the flags, while others were opposed. It would cost $1,050 to put the flags at each of the three corners of the intersection. The idea has been used in the Halifax region at many crosswalks, but not at those controlled by stop signs. 

Adam Grant, the region’s director of engineering and public works, said he spoke with the community group in Halifax behind those flags. 

The citizens’ group Crosswalk Safety Society of Nova Scotia began putting the orange flags at intersections in 2008 after a teenager was killed in a Dartmouth crosswalk. According to the group’s website, it got approval from the province in 2011 to allow crosswalk flags on provincial roads. They are now found in Hubbards, Hantsport, Aylesford, Berwick, New Ross, Bridgewater, Chester and Windsor.

Grant said the reception to them in the Halifax region is mixed. And he told councillors there is no evidence that installing the flags at Main and Market would improve pedestrian safety.

“I don’t feel comfortable consenting to the installation, quite frankly, as the traffic authority.

“Any time we introduce anything to a situation which doesn’t have a clear and direct guideline with substantiated evidence determined by professionals, we’re introducing liability. For me to suggest putting these in place will improve safety when I don’t know they will would be contradictory to my intent.”

Councillors decided to defer the flag discussion to a later date.

Grant said that pedestrian-controlled lights at the intersection could interrupt traffic flow and create more problems. He said it’s unusual to install the lights at a three-way stop.

A 2015 study by Insight Traffic Engineering did not recommend installing lights at the intersection. Instead, it suggested changing some signage, remove any trees or greenery obstructing visibility and moving the stop sign and crosswalk from the western approach on Main Street.

The study found that existing traffic control wasn’t an issue, though it did recommend council at the time ask Queens District RCMP to step up enforcement.

Grant told councillors Tuesday that conditions at the intersection haven’t changed since that 2015 report, and that there was no increase in the rate of collisions over the past 10 years, according to the RCMP.

Mayor Darlene Norman suggested leaving the issue for the next council to tackle after municipal elections in October.

District 6 Coun. David Brown said he’d like the region’s police advisory board to discuss increased enforcement with the RCMP at their next meeting, likely in late May.

“It sounds more like a compliance issue,” Brown said.

“Once you make an example of a few peole and word gets out that there are potential fines for jaywalking or entering the intersection illegally when you’re driving, word will get around and pepole will take the extra time and look at what they’re doing.” 

Norman said she believes that’s a good idea, and that police need to keep up the enforcement efforts for many days, and at all times of the day.

“And fines. Not warnings, but fines for rolling stops, for all of those things, because it might be the pedestrian once in a while who darts out, but it’s often the vehicle driver.”

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Region of Queens councillors are looking for ways to improve safety at the intersection at Main and Market streets in Liverpool. (Rick Conrad photo)

By Rick Conrad

Councillors at the Region of Queens want something done to address pedestrian safety at the three-way stop in downtown Liverpool.

The intersection at Main and Market streets has seen its share of collisions and close calls. 

On Monday, a 79-year-old woman was hit in the crosswalk and taken to South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater. RCMP said her injuries were not life-threatening. A driver was charged with failing to yield to a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

The incident reignited concern in the community about the safety of that intersection and others in town.

At its meeting on Tuesday, council voted to have staff review previous studies and reports and come back with recommendations to make the three-way stop safer.

“I understand the frustrations,” Mayor Darlene Norman said Wednesday in an interview.

“Over my years of driving, I have been on both sides of that coin,” as a pedestrian and as a motorist.

According to minutes from a July 2019 meeting, the previous council had rejected the idea of crosswalk lights. It would have cost $27,000. 

Then-CAO Chris McNeill told councillors that it was staff’s opinion that installing lights “will not improve safety or eliminate pedestrians’ inattention when crossing the intersection”.

Instead, councillors at the time decided to post a “no left turn” sign for post office parking, remove any trees or shrubbery obstructing visibility, and asking the Queens District RCMP to step up enforcement, including traffic stops during peak hours.

A 2015 study by Insight Traffic Engineering recommended changing some signage, moving the stop sign and crosswalk from the western approach on Main Street, and moving the sidewalk shrubbery and furniture.

The study concluded that existing traffic control wasn’t an issue. 

Leanne Arnott, owner of nearby Five Girls Baking, said this week after the most recent incident that pedestrian-controlled lights should be installed.

“In other cities where I have lived with pedestrian-controlled crosswalks they seem to have been very effective and very useful and I think that in this situation that would be a good thing to have here.”

Arnott said she’s happy that council is going to address the issue, but that they should also involve the community in their discussions.

Norman said Wednesday that councillors have heard many ideas — from full traffic lights to having orange flags available at each corner for pedestrians to carry as they cross.

She said they will consider all options and wait for staff to come back with a report. 

“Council places public safety first. I do not believe this council would ever make a decision not to do something because of the cost.”

She said she personally supports installing accessible pedestrian signals, which include lights and sound when a pedestrian chooses to cross. But it is ultimately council’s decision.

Still, Norman said, it’s the responsibility of pedestrians and motorists to be careful in all intersections. 

“So while council can do everything in its power, be it installation of traffic lights, basically it boils down to pedestrians and those driving the vehicles using safety as a No. 1 factor when going through intersections.”

Norman said they’ve heard from residents about other areas in Liverpool where safety is a problem, such as the intersection at Queens Place Drive.

And in November, residents of Main and School streets submitted a petition to council, urging the region to lower speed limits in the area and to create a four-way stop at the intersection.

Councillors also asked staff to study those and other areas that need attention.

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