Two city councillors hope to make a west Orillia intersection safer.
At Monday’s council meeting, councillors Jay Fallis and Jeff Czetwerzuk requested a staff report on the feasibility of bringing a permanent all-way stop or traffic calming circle to the Orion Boulevard and Monarch Drive intersection.
It’s an intersection that Fallis said he has heard about “countless times” from neighbourhood residents, who have raised concerns about safety and “speeding through,” he said.
“I've actually witnessed, myself, a situation where a car came, turned right into the intersection, nearly hit a kid, and I can speak to the need for something to interrupt this intersection,” Fallis said.
“(We) wanted to also bring up the opportunity for not just the stop sign, but alternatively, a roundabout," he told his council colleagues.
“In hearing the research on this, it sounds like it can be a very effective method, not only at mitigating traffic speeding issues, but also in addressing the clogged element of intersections as well," Fallis said.
In addition to the possible four-way stop or roundabout, Fallis and Czetwerzuk also asked for the report to consider extending the no parking area five to ten metres northeast of Orion Boulevard to ensure visibility for drivers turning from Monarch onto Orion.
“I can attest to the visibility issue when I'm driving through on Monarch, when big trucks park on the side, it is very … unsafe,” Czetwerzuk said. “People … know they can just go right through, and when you're stopped you don’t know when to make a safe turn.”
Council supported Fallis and Czetwerzuk’s request, directing staff to report back on the issue at a later date.
