Since Orillia Coun. Luke Leatherdale was a young boy, he remembers the flashing lights at the intersection of Nottawasaga and Patrick streets.
Decades later it's exactly the same, but now there's more traffic and more speeding. There have been collisions, many near misses and pedestrians feel unsafe walking across, said Leatherdale.
The intersection has a lot of pedestrian traffic as it's adjacent to Victoria Park and close to Lions Oval Public School.
"Nobody feels safe crossing this section of road here. We really need to do something," Leatherdale told OrilliaMatters.
The intersection is uniquely shaped with the north side of the intersection having a wider crossing than the south side. Sight lines are poor, the road is sloped and this winter's high snow banks make it worse, he said.
"Old Orillia has a number of these intersections."
After Leatherdale received a complaint from a local resident, he began canvassing the neighbourhood.
"Every single person I talked to said they wanted this to be looked into," Leatherdale told council at its Feb. 10 meeting. "The response was unanimous. We gotta change this."
Leatherdale received his council colleagues' support to approve an inquiry motion that will see staff prepare a report on possible upgrades to make the intersection safer.
Currently, the overhead light flashes red for east/west traffic along Nottawasaga and yellow for north/south traffic along Patrick Street and William. There are also stop signs and sidewalks on both sides of Nottawasaga.
"That's all there is for a safety mechanism right now at this intersection," he said.
Leatherdale said he will await staff's recommendations, but suggests a pedestrian crosswalk, rumble strips, painted lines and flashing lights.
"I would like to see something above and beyond what we have now," he said.
Coun. Jay Fallis agreed.
"I've received complaints about this same intersection. So it goes to show we really need to look at it," said Fallis.