A prominent member of the city's Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee (MAAC) successfully lobbied for council to reconsider the idea of a crosswalk at Pine Street and Fifth Avenue.
Dan MacKay, who is blind, spoke to city council on Tuesday evening. He was joined by Dawna Carrier, a representative of the Autumnwood St. Mary's Gardens seniors residence.
MacKay suggested that the safest option is to make the intersection a three-way stop.
"Put two stop signs on Pine, North and South, red flashing lights so everyone can see them," he said.
"With my own personal experience, crosswalks are dangerous. We know in Toronto in particular, people are killed at crosswalks every year."
The city previously had earmarked $100,000 to install overhead crosswalk lighting at the intersection.
MacKay highlighted some serious potential hazards.
"If a person that comes up to a crosswalk, a blind or visually impaired person in particular, they have to find the pole. They have to find the push button. Once they find that, they push that button. How do you know if its activated? Is it functioning? Is it malfunctioning? There's always a limit to how much time you have once you activate the system."
He painted council a picture of a visually impaired person cautiously proceeding onto the street, under the assumption the crosswalk lights are functioning properly, with only the ability to listen to traffic to make a judgment call.
"You're standing there, and the vehicles are slowing, but you still don't know if they're about to stop. You don't know if the lights are going. Then it's a guessing game, right at the last minute, both parties go forward. Boom. It's a scenario you don't want."
MacKay then pointed out the financial impact a change of plans could have.
Dan MacKay, a key member of the Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee, speaks at city hall on Tuesday. Andrew Autio for TimminsToday "A crosswalk is $100,000 to put in place, and continued maintenance afterwards. Two stop signs with two red flashing lights, one on each sign, isn't going to come even close to that. So its a huge financial savings. But the priority here is for human safety, so we hope council consider this option over the crosswalk."
Carrier previously spoke to council in December and brought forth a petition signed by many St. Mary's Gardens residents who wanted a crosswalk at the intersection. On the opposite side of Pine Street sits the 101 Mall and Business Complex, which includes a popular bank, and St. Anthony's Cathedral. The residents, some of whom have mobility issues, felt the 110 metre distance from the main entrance to the seniors complex to the nearest crosswalk at Pine and Algonquin was too lengthy.
"Initially I requested a crosswalk. I had a second option in that presentation for stop signs. After having spoken to some city officials, and some citizens like Dan, the stop signs are looking more and more like the better option. The reason I proposed a crosswalk to begin with, is because there is a hill coming up Pine, and I thought a crosswalk would be more visible to traffic," she said, acknowledging that flashing lights perched on top of the stop signs would be a big help in that regard.
Carrier said the stop sign option would also alleviate the issue of losing parking spaces along Pine. According to the Ontario Traffic Manual, the installation of a crosswalk at Pine and Fifth would see the required elimination of seven parking spaces, which would impact both the 101 Mall and St. Mary's Gardens, as well as city coffers.
"To reiterate what Dan was saying, I think its a win-win. It's safer for pedestrians, its less costly, and we would save some much needed parking in the city of Timmins," she said.
Once the floor was opened up for input, Councillor Pat Bamford said he was in complete agreement. He said there is an 'inherent danger' with crosswalks.
"More often than not, drivers just drive right through because there is nobody standing there. There are crosswalks that are rarely used, or not often used, so the habit is to just carry on through. But if you had a stop sign, everybody has to stop regardless. So you get used to a stop sign being there," said Bamford.
He said he is of the understanding that the city wasn't allowed to put flashing red lights atop of stop signs.
City CAO Dave Landers later told council that it appears the loss of the seven parking spaces would occur with the installation of stop signs as well.
Councillors Joe Campbell and Mike Doody both vouched for the credibility and tenacity of MacKay's work with MAAC.
"I don't think the loss of parking is as big as the loss of life," said Doody.
Councillor Rick Dubeau also thanked MacKay for providing perspectives most people simply cannot.
"You're coming back with an educated opinion. You're coming back with a solution. And three-way stops, there's no two-ways about it, are safer, and you identified things that I wasn't aware of," said Dubeau.
Council voted unanimously to have the previously approved crosswalk plans put on hold. They will receive a report at the June 6 meeting which will outline options to move forward. The majority of council expressed a desire to have the intersection dealt with as soon as possible.
