{"id":7314,"date":"2024-05-14T16:43:44","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T19:43:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/?p=7314"},"modified":"2024-05-14T16:44:03","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T19:44:03","slug":"queens-councillors-nix-crosswalk-flags-seek-more-info-on-traffic-lights-at-main-and-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/2024\/05\/14\/queens-councillors-nix-crosswalk-flags-seek-more-info-on-traffic-lights-at-main-and-market\/","title":{"rendered":"Queens councillors nix crosswalk flags, seek info on traffic lights at Main and Market"},"content":{"rendered":"
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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)<\/p><\/div>\n

Queens County pedestrians and motorists won\u2019t see orange crosswalk flags at a busy intersection in downtown Liverpool, but they could see a return of traffic lights.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

The area did have traffic lights decades ago, until they were damaged by a transport truck, and taken down.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2019t an issue and recommended minor changes.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2019, councillors rejected installing pedestrian-controlled crosswalk lights at a cost of $27,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

But a collision in January which sent a 79-year-old woman to hospital rekindled concern in the community about safety at that intersection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Councillors asked staff to come back with options about how to make that intersection safer. Adam Grant, the region\u2019s 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\u2019s unusual to have the lights at a three-way stop.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The all-way stop in Mahone Bay by Saltbox Brewery. (Google Streetview)<\/p><\/div>\n

Even though councillors on Tuesday rejected the flags, they said action needs to be taken to make Main and Market intersection safer.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

Charlton asked staff for the traffic light report.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I look around at other communities that have these three-way intersections, they have lights. And so I think it\u2019s 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\u2019re not there yet, when can we pull the trigger on them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

District 4 Coun. Vicki Amirault said it\u2019s time for the region to address the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne person getting hit there is too many, and it\u2019s 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\u2019s been years and years, but I think we need to find a way forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

District 5 Coun. Jack Fancy said the flags would have been better than nothing. And he said he also supports pedestrian-controlled lights.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s always going to be issues with each thing, but I believe the good outweighs the bad with this. Especially, what we\u2019re aiming for right now is doing nothing. And I don\u2019t think doing nothing is the answer.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

District 6 Coun. David Brown said enforcement and education would resolve a lot of safety issues.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe lights won\u2019t stop cars, the lines on the pavement won\u2019t stop cars. You have to look for yourself and guard your safety. We\u2019ve got a lot of development coming and I\u2019d 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.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mayor Darlene Norman said that when the traffic lights were operating at that intersection years ago, it seemed to help.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Email: rickconradqccr@gmail.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Listen to the audio version of this story below<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/trafficlightstorymay1424.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Queens County pedestrians and motorists won\u2019t 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,5],"tags":[958,2185,1650,2099,1664,79,793,1663,472,2181,95,1918,2179,2182,24,2184,2183,1651,2186,2180,2170,96],"class_list":["post-7314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community-news","category-news-posts","tag-adam-grant","tag-all-way-stop","tag-crosswalk","tag-crosswalk-flags","tag-crosswalk-safety","tag-darlene-norman","tag-david-brown","tag-intersection","tag-jack-fancy","tag-lights","tag-maddie-charlton","tag-mahone-bay","tag-main-and-market-streets","tag-pedestrian-controlled-lights","tag-region-of-queens","tag-stop","tag-stop-signs","tag-three-way-stop","tag-town-of-mahone-bay","tag-traffic-lights","tag-traffic-safety","tag-vicki-amirault"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7314"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7318,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7314\/revisions\/7318"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qccrfm.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}