Coun. Mitch Tweel has called on the city to revisit recommendations for the Queen and Pond streets intersection from a seven-year-old report that were never fully implemented.
Tweel said vehicle and pedestrian traffic have increased since the report was completed and expressed safety concerns.
“The recommendations of the report are long overdue. This intersection is a death trap,” said Tweel. “Choosing to ignore the recommendations of the report is reckless, irresponsible and dangerous.”
Tweel said the intersection sees a lot of traffic with one side surrounded by homes, Holy Redeemer Church and the Jack Blanchard Hall while also leading towards Colonel Gray and Queen Charlotte schools. The other side features a number of restaurants, the busy Oak Tree Liquor Store as well as a strip mall and a number of businesses.
The Guardian spoke to several residents living near the intersection. All who were approached said they felt the intersection needed improvements.
Student Fin Carragher, who crosses the intersection every day, noted it is also an inconvenience particularly for vehicles turning off Pond Street.
“There could be some changes,” said Carragher.
At the time of the report, the principals at the schools also wrote a letter to the city asking for improvements.
Another resident pointed to past accidents at the intersection, while another suggested the city should install a traffic light.
While the report stated traffic lights were not warranted at the time but would be if there was a sufficient increase in traffic. It also stated future events should result in a further evaluation of a traffic signal would include any new nearby developments or a diversion of pedestrian traffic from the nearby Royalty Court crosswalk if a landowner ever prohibited access.
Both of those have occurred since the report, which was completed by ADI Limited, was released in March 2011. There are also plans for future development in the area.
The report’s first and major recommendation included removing or relocating a house on the northeast corner, which restricts visibility for drivers since it extends past the stop sign.
Other recommendations included relocating utility poles, designating the crosswalk as a school crossing or adopting a special RA-5 designation crosswalk until a traffic signal was warranted.
While not included in the report, Tweel also pointed to the lack of a sidewalk on the section of Pond Street east of Queen Street.
Tweel said he is hoping to work with the police committee as well as the planning and public works departments to implement the report’s recommendations.
“The thing that’s troublesome, frustrating and annoying is how some capital projects proceed and how some don’t. There doesn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason,” he said. “The community is saying this is long overdue and the city cannot ignore this any longer.”
