There might be new members of Bradford West Gwillimbury council, but the same traffic concerns remain in the community.
A Northgate Avenue resident has once again reached out to the town to do something about large trucks parking on the street, particularly in the area between both ends of De Pueter Crescent.
There are sight line concerns, the resident told town staff in 2019, as the trucks block the view of residents when they are attempting to leave their driveways, citing potential collisions that were nearly missed.
The concerns petered out once brought to traffic committee, a staff report indicated. Prior to that meeting, staff attended the location to see for themselves what the concerns were. The issue was only persistent in the latter two weeks of any month, staff determined, given the alternating parking restrictions currently in place on Northgate. Staff did admit the concern was “amplified by the volume and speed of traffic.”
After staff spoke with residents and the owners of the offending trucks, committee was content the issue would be better. Fast forward to this past October, and it seems as if it isn’t.
Councillors were given three options to consider by staff on the issue, including banning parking on the west side of Northgate Avenue between both legs of De Peuter Crescent, banning it all the way up to Line 8 or doing nothing. They noted other residents hadn’t been consulted on these potential changes.
Traffic concerns aren’t localized to that small stretch of Northgate, said Coun. Nickolas Harper. If council is to act, he said, it should be done properly and it should be done once residents are consulted.
“There are a lot more areas of concern happening on Northgate,” Harper said. “I think we can do a lot better than just hammering out one issue on a complaint, because I know, just in this area alone, there are several complaints.”
Mayor James Leduc agreed, noting that traffic has been the number one issue facing the most recent previous councils, and that dealing with the specific issue brought up at this time wouldn’t be the way to solve the overall problem correctly.
“I think this has to be addressed a little further; it’s a tough situation,” he said. “I do want to hear from the residents… and maybe come up with a solution that works for everybody.”
Harper also was concerned with the accuracy of the traffic count listed in the staff report, as he feels the average of 2,000 drivers per day on Northgate Avenue was low, if not at least half of what the actual number would be.
“Even still, 2,000 a day on a street like this, that’s not an arterial road, is concerning,” Harper said. “When do these residents here on Northgate actually get to feel safe in their area?”
Councillors deferred the issue until a recommendation comes back from the yet-to-be-struck traffic committee. Once council completes its strategic planning in early 2023, and if decides there isn’t a need for a traffic committee, the most appropriate committee of council would report back on the matter.
