The Town of The Blue Mountains will be taking further steps to improve safety at the intersection in the community of Gibraltar.
At its committee of the whole meeting on March 18, council voted in favour of a plan from town staff to install painted stop bars on the fourth line to encourage drivers to slow down when approaching the intersection of the 4th Line and 6th Sideroad. Staff also plan to investigate the possibility of installing a traffic camera that will help the town monitor driver behaviour at the intersection.
These moves come after the town, in October 2024, received a letter from a local resident expressing concerns about the safety of the intersection.
In response to that letter the town looked at the situation and implemented a number of measures including:
1. Installation of oversized stop signs.
2. Installation of “stop ahead” signs.
3. Removed brush along the roadside near the 4th line stop signs.
4. Installed a temporary traffic counter to record traffic volumes, vehicle size and speed during the fall of 2023.
5. Requested additional OPP presence in the area.
6. Staff reviewed the condition of the 50km/hr signs and found they were in good condition.
Jim McCannell, the town’s manager of roads and drainage, said the data from the traffic counter was “inconclusive.”
“We didn’t find any problems,” he said, adding that the OPP reported similar findings after their monitoring of the interaction.
McCannell said town staff also consulted with First Student, the school bus company that serves the local area and received helpful feedback from bus drivers who regularly drive in the area.
The town also commissioned a traffic engineer to take a look at the intersection. The traffic engineer recommended the painted stop bars, the traffic camera and the relocation of two stop signs at the intersection. McCannell, noted that staff did not recommend the relocation of the stop signs as suggested by the traffic engineer, because the signs have been placed in their current location to avoid being hit and damaged by large truck traffic travelling to and from a nearby gravel pit.
Members of council were appreciative of the work staff have done on the situation and unanimously supported the additional measures recommended in the report.
“It’s hard to manage drivers’ behaviours,” said Coun. Gail Ardiel.