The first weeks of Main Street re-construction yielded a few pointed remarks from readers, largely on the topic of the sudden rise in the number of speeding cars, cutting through our neighbourhoods to avoid newfound traffic jams. To add your voice to the conversation, e-mail: editor@mainstreeter.ca and include your name and street.
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I have lived on Mason Terrace for almost 30 years, on the block east of Main. Our street is the entry point for residents of Mount Pleasant, Echo, Mason, Mutchmor, and points north. We get far more traffic than any of the interior streets. When there is a big construction project, we can see 50-100 trucks an hour rumbling up our street. I would never suggest that children (or adults) play catch on the street on our block. There is too much usage. Despite that, it is quite tolerable when it is local traffic. Most people will not act like a$$#&?*s in their own neighbourhood.
When Main backs up and commuters start peeling off to Mason, Mutchmor, McGillivray, they often lack respect: speeding, blowing stop signs, cutting corners. These are the people I would like to see ticketed for bad driving. Enforcement will become critical if cut-through traffic increases.
Don Fugler, Mason Terrace
The initial impact of lane closures seems to be worse than what occurs two or three weeks after the closure. This was the experience with the side streets of Lees when it was reconstructed last summer. Many drivers realize they need to find an entirely new route or transportation option.
Having 40k/hr speed limits on all side streets might be useful. Having police enforcement of no-turn restrictions is important.
Our concerns about cut-through traffic and inconvenience pale in comparison to the dangerous and utterly unpleasant state of today’s Main Street at rush hour and at other times. Yes, with construction I may experience some additional traffic on McNaughton but if that happens, it’s a small price to pay for having Main Street rebuilt to be safe and pleasant.
Most members of the community are walkers and/or cyclists. I bet you not one of them has ever deemed walking and cycling along Main a particularly pleasant experience.
With the new design – and, hopefully, enforced turn restrictions – those going through the community will think twice about taking their car and using Main at peak times. With the completion of the Main rebuild it will actually be safe and pleasant to walk and bike along and live on our major street. What an improvement that will be. Let’s not lose sight of this as we mitigate any impacts of cut-through traffic during construction.
John Dance, McNaughton Avenue
As a resident living on Bower and Mutchmor I support the no-turn onto Bower, Mason and Beckwith both in the morning and afternoon at peak hours. Traffic has increased dramatically on Bower and Mutchmor during rush hours now that Main is down to two lanes in some spots. Once construction is finished it will be the same story, two lanes.
Also of concern are the stop lights and turning lanes planned for Bower/Beckwith. This will provide further encouragement for drivers to use the residential streets. I understand those lights and turning lanes are for buses, although I don’t understand (why they are needed). As I see it, plans should include bus bays along Main Street in order to keep traffic moving around them when we are down to two lanes rather than turning lanes. Turning lanes will only encourage drivers to turn into residential areas.
In the meantime, no turns at rush hour will go a long way to solving the problem.
Gayle Singer, Bower Street
Our experience with the Lees Ave construction is that while cars used the residential streets sometimes during construction, most found another way to get where they were going, bypassing the neighbourhood completely. And after the construction, traffic has returned to Lees, not on the more residential streets. I would also point out that no-turn lanes on all the streets will result in all the cut-through (traffic) going down Clegg to Colonel By, which is as much of a residential street as the others mentioned. It was never a regional road. Patience is my advice. Share the pain.
Wendy McRae, Lees Avenue
It’s difficult to accept when the neighbourhood or community you have moved into, or lived in all your life changes but we do have to accept it. And we have to understand that some changes that are mainly positive, will also have negative aspects. I think of the proposed bridge over the canal at Fifth and Clegg — so positive for so many of us, but it would bring added parking pressures on some parts of OOE.
Being among the fortunate few who live downtown brings lots of aspects I could nicely do without: students in surrounding housing and their associated noise and garbage; cars parked in front of and beside my home at all hours of the day (and night); higher taxes; etc. But these inconveniences are the trade-off I make for being able to walk to the canal, to the grocery store, to my dentist, to my doctor, everywhere!
So while Main Street is undergoing its major facelift, there will be even more traffic and slower traffic in the neighbourhood. It will be a pain. But I am so looking forward to the end result!
Our street was dug up in 2013. The inconvenience was considerable, but we survived. And so will OOE during Main Street reconstruction. So, suck it up folks, and let’s get on with it.
Heather Jarrett, Havelock Street
I’d echo Wendy’s observations of the situation for those of us who are east of Main/south of Lees/north of Saint Paul U. While there’s always been a bit of cut-through traffic on Springhurst during the rush hours with some drivers trying to avoid delays at the Lees and Main lights, there hasn’t been a noticeable increase since the Main Street construction started. This summer’s Lees Ave construction had a far bigger impact, as a lot of drivers were cutting through, using Evelyn Ave, to avoid delays at the Main/Lees light, but this seemed to lessen after the first few weeks of construction then returned to normal when the project finished.
Just a note as well to agree with what others have raised about enforcement of no-turns and similar signage: at the corner of Springhurst and Rosemere, there is a no-left-turn sign, which is meant to deter some of the cut-through traffic in the neighbourhood. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any police enforcement, and although our neighbourhood enforcement of it, through dirty looks and glares, seems to do a decent job, there is the odd commuter who still uses Rosemere to cut past the Main/Lees traffic. All this to say that enforcement should be some part of any traffic plan.
Steven Begg, Springhurst Avenue
It seems to me like both Clegg and McGillivray have increased traffic. And not just more but it seems like there’s more speeding. For example people cut across McNaughton to McGillivray and then up behind Immaculata. To me it also seems like more traffic from Main backs up to Pretoria in the evenings and even twice it was backed up all the way over to the cop shop.
Brad Manning, Herridge Street
