Intersection dangerous: residents
Nov 09, 2007
A local woman is calling on the Town to put a four-way stop at a south Milton intersection after her house was struck by a car on the weekend for the second time in five months.
Yates Drive resident Denise Dawes said people have been using her street as “their own little speedway” and ignoring the rules of the road, particularly around the corner of Yates and March Crossing. Her home is the second house in from the intersection.
“To have my house hit twice in a five-month period is a great indication that nobody is obeying the two stop signs that are there,” she said.
“I think it’s time that the (Town) planners rethink their decision about placing a four-way stop sign at this location. I’m living proof that there should be something there.” Dawes said while the first accident caused more damage to her house than the car that struck it, this time around one of the people in the vehicle required medical attention.
“I’m hoping and praying there isn’t a third time,” she said. “Frankly, I don’t want to come home and find my house surrounded by police tape because someone has lost their life due to the carelessness of some impatient driver.”
Town Engineering Services Director Paul Cripps said a traffic count was done at the intersection around 2005. At that point, the warrants weren’t met to implement an all-way stop.
He noted that another count will take place within the next two to three weeks provided the Town receives a formal request for it from the public. Dawes told the Champion she will be making such a request.
In addition to Dawes, local resident Mike Cluett — who has been a strong advocate for local road safety — thinks something needs to be done to rectify the situation at Yates Drive and March Crossing. He said he’s heard from residents in the area who either want a four-way stop at the intersection or even speed bumps.
“There are a number of options we’d like to look at,” he remarked. “(I support) anything that will make it safer for kids.”
Cluett also pointed out that traffic problems such as these aren’t just isolated to the one intersection. “There are problems on a number of streets in the new area of Milton,” he said. “We need to see what we can do to make streets safer.”
And as for Dawes, she has a simple message for those who speed down her street: “Slow down and obey the rules of the road.”
Melanie Hennessey can be reached at mhennessey@miltoncanadianchampion.com