By Connie Tabbert
Editor
There have been two recent requests for streetlights in Whitewater Region Township, but with no street light policy, council has not found it easy to make a decision if lights should be installed.
One request is on a county road while the other is in Cobden.
During a recent public works committee meeting, Chief Administrative Officer Christine FitzSimons noted public works assistant Sandra Moss is investigating the pricing for a street light for the intersection of Wallace Drive and Pembroke Street (Hwy.17) . There are about a dozen residences on Wallace Drive.
As for the intersection at Foresters Falls Road and Cedar Haven Road, which is a county jurisdiction, Ms. FitzSimons said the county’s bylaw is a light can be installed if there is a resolution from a municipality to accept the cost of the installation, operation and maintenance of the street light.
The Wallace Drive request for a street light is the municipality’s responsibility. Public works manager Bill Misener said the municipality has lights past Wallace Drive on the east bound side of Hwy. 17 and down Wallace Drive. However, right at the stop sign, there is no light, so there is a dark spot there – and that’s the complaint.
There is a pole at the intersection, but Hydro One needs to look at it to see if it will accommodate a street light, he said.
There’s a lot involved in finding out the cost of having a street light installed, Mr. Misener said.
“There are about five different steps just to get it priced,” he said.
When that information is available, it will brought to a committee or council meeting, Ms. FitzSimons said.
Councillor Joey Trimm said he sees two issues. The first is that street lights are provided in Cobden, which includes Wallace Drive so there is a spacing in the lighting which should be corrected and secondly they are used for pedestrian’s safety more than for traffic.
As for the Foresters Falls/Cedar Haven Road intersection, he said, “What criteria do we use to put up streetlights? Just because someone asked?”
There are other intersections that are dark in our municipality, such as Watchhorn Drive and Beachburg Road, he said, adding, it’s an awkward and dark intersection.
The County uses MTO (Ministry of Transportation of Ontario) guidelines 2006 edition and information from the Highway Traffic Act.
“That’s how they decide whether a light goes up,” he said. “They just don’t decide because somebody asked.
“We have a lot of intersecting roads. We can’t just put up lights because someone asks. We have to use criteria,” Coun. Trimm said.
The County uses criteria that has been adopted right across the province and that’s what this township should do, he added.
He noted Wallace Drive should have a light because “it’s a dark and dangerous spot for people walking.”
As for the Foresters Falls/Cedar Haven Road intersection, Councillor Daryl McLaughlin suggested installing a larger street sign might be an answer.
“Instead of having to go the cost of putting a street light up because you can’t find where the street is, if you have in big block letters CEDAR HAVEN ROAD and an arrow, would that not solve some of the problem?
“Because it is only 60 kilometres an hour (at that intersection), it’s not like you are doing 120 or 90 kilometres an hour,” he said. “This sounds like it’s going to be fairly expensive and it’s going to be a lot to maintain the cost.
“Somehow we have to save money,” he said. “It’s nice to have the lights, and it’s great for the residents, but, I don’t know, I just keep sitting here thinking, where are we going to get the money?.”
Councillor Cathy Regier disagreed.
When it’s foggy and snowing out, seeing a sign for the intersection of Foresters Falls Road and Cedar Haven Road would be difficult, no matter how large the sign is.
“I think there is a safety issue there,” she said. “We should still get some pricing for that intersection and then make a decision.”
She added, “I don’t think they’re coming to us, or approaching us because they think it would be nice to have a sign. I think there is an actual safety issue there.”
Ms. FitzSimons said she will ask Ms. Moss to review the references in the county document and draft a sheet of criteria through bullet points.
