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West Nipissing council discusses traffic and safety concerns

Traffic and safety concerns were issues raised at West Nipissing council this week.

One of them is a request to install a four-way stop at the intersection of King Street and Queen Street.

Council was told that a four-way stop that went up by the post office has worked well.

Council agrees traffic is heavy in the area and a four-way stop is needed.

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The one concern councillor Chris Fisher had was if a four-way stop would then force traffic on King to back up onto Highway 17 as vehicles come off the Trans Canada at the lights.

Staff says that’s an unknown at this point and added traffic could back during a busy season to the lights.

Staff also told council the OPP has no issues with a four-way stop being added to King and Queen.

The four-way stop will go ahead and Mayor Joanne Savage wants the public to realize that this particular intersection is not an official pedestrian crossing.

She wants the message to get out that people should not cross at the site.

Staff will examine how to get the word out that people should not cross at King and Queen, including putting up signs.

The second traffic and safety concern involves crossing guards in school areas.

Councillor Dan Roveda raised this issue after a parent brought the matter to his attention.

The concern involves the volume of traffic students at White Woods elementary school deal with daily.

Roveda says students face six school buses in the morning to say nothing of the private passenger vehicles going in and out of the school parking lot.

Roveda says for young children it can be overwhelming dealing with this much traffic.

Resolving the issue with a crossing guard was suggested and staff told council the responsibility for such a person falls on the municipality and not the school boards.

This made the debate a budgetary one as Mayor Joanne Savage pointed out.

Savage says this matter has to be studied more because if council agrees to a crossing guard at one location other requests may come in from parents also wanting a crossing guard for the schools their children attend.

Staff will look at crossing guard costs and the Mayor has also asked staff to examine how other communities deal with this situation.

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