The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Safety fears over speeding cars and large commercial vehicles have city council pondering traffic changes. Council last week fielded concerns over excessive speeding on Green Street and semi-trucks taking up too much road space on Fifth Avenue and Hapnot Street. 'Some people are driving 90 kilometres an hour past my house,' Kathryn Church, a Green Street resident, told council at their regular meeting. 'It's not just my house, it's everybody on that street.' Church knows the exact speed because two years ago she borrowed a speed radar sign from MPI. In a span of two weeks, motorists also struck two dogs on the street, she said. But Church's request for a new three-way stop, for the intersection of Green Street and Pine Avenue, a block from the zoo, has been rejected by the city's Traffic Commission. Mark Kolt, the city's chief administrative officer, said one factor behind the decision is that Green Street is a high-capacity 'arterial road.' See 'Street' on pg. Continued from pg. But concerned resident Blair Sapergia, another Green Street resident, said the street already has several stop signs. When Sapergia suggested a speed bump might be in order, Coun. Skip Martin agreed that perhaps that is the case, but he said that is a separate issue from the three-way stop the city was asked to consider. Church expressed disappointment that she was not at the Traffic Commission's latest meeting to present her case. Days before the meeting, she said, her home received a voice message about the meeting, but it was unclear. The next message was left after the meeting had already started, she said. Coun. Martin, chair of the Traffic Commission, said he had made it clear that Church was to be invited to the meeting. In any event, though the Traffic Commission made a recommendation against the three-way stop, council as a whole has the final say _ a fact Coun. Colleen McKee pointed out. Council also heard from downtown resident Dennis Hydamaka, who said the Hapnot Street-Fifth Avenue corridor has become 'a commercial travel route.' Hydamaka said semi-trucks are dangerously taking up both lanes as they pass through the area, which is near his home. Other large commercial vehicles also worry him. He said the road has a high volume of pedestrians but no cautionary signage or crosswalk to help ensure their safety. Hydamaka went down a list of the types of commercial vehicles that use the route, eventually prompting Coun. Martin to lightheartedly point out that 'it's a road.' At one point Hydamaka, frustrated with the city on a number of fronts, declared: 'Somebody's going to get killed and then council will smarten up.' Mayor George Fontaine said he is not sure how the city would stop commercial trucks from driving down this particular road. The mayor asked Coun. Martin and the Traffic Commission to investigate and decide if there's 'actually an issue there or not.' Hydamaka also took time to reiterate his ongoing concerns with a sewer box that forms part of a walking path near his home. He said the wooden planks are sinking and breaking, causing a hazard for pedestrians. Hydamaka was told the matter was thought to have been resolved but would be looked at again. Later in the week repair work began.
