MOUNT FOREST ‒ Four new pedestrian crossings are coming to Wellington North, starting with the intersection at Main Street South and King Street.
Presented in a report coming to Wellington North council on tonight, Triton Engineering Services was hired earlier this year to investigate ideal intersections for new pedestrian crossing infrastructure after a request from the Mount Forest BIA specifically asking for a crossing at Main Street South and King Street.
While the report found the installation of traffic or pedestrian signals at this intersection is not justified, it recommended enhanced crosswalk pavement marking, side-mounted regulatory signs, rectangular rapid flashing beacons, and warning signs to minimize pedestrian delay and limit traffic disruption.
Also identifying Main Street North at Durham Street West, and Queen Street East at Parkside Drive in Mount Forest, and Smith Street at Conestoga Street in Arthur, the report said installing a pedestrian crossover at the Main/King location will cost $250,000 plus applicable taxes.
Once constructed, additional costs are expected for annual inspection and placement of line pavement markings and general maintenance.
The report also highlighted issues with parallel parking lanes on the east and west sides of Main Street South and to the north and south of the intersection with King Street creating sight-distance restrictions.
"Sight distance is limited for vehicles stopped at the stop bars on King Street by parallel parking lanes and buildings on the corners of the intersection," said the report. "Vehicles stopped at the stop bars on the side street must move ahead to view oncoming traffic before proceeding through the intersection and can cause visual obstruction and sight distance issues for pedestrians crossing Main Street South."
However, the report said this can be reduced on either leg of Main Street by providing curb bump-outs, which would provide better pedestrian visibility, shorten the crossing distance, and may act as an enhancement to traffic calming.
Some existing parking spaces may also need to be removed.
The full report can be found here.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.
