Tantramar Town Council spent 17 minutes on Monday discussing how to improve public safety at the village square intersection in Dorchester, but in the end, no one came up with a solution.

“I don’t have an answer for you today,” Town Engineer Jon Eppell said after telling council about the results of a radar survey his department conducted in May and June on traffic volumes and speed.

“This is probably not the ideal intersection given the geometry, the angle of the intersection of roads, the grades and that there are S curves approaching it as well,” Eppell said.

“There are in the order of 1,200 vehicles on weekdays and 1,000 on weekends, which would classify this as a low-volume intersection,” he added.

Eppell said that 85% of the vehicles travelled between 52 and 55 kmh close to the posted 50 kmh speed limit and that an average of only 10 vehicles on weekdays and nine on weekends exceeded 65 kmh which is less than 1% of the traffic volume.

“On that basis, we don’t believe that changes to the traffic control in the area of the intersection are warranted,” he told council.

Council suggestions

Eppell then responded to the following suggestions from members of council who all agreed that in spite of the figures, the intersection can be a dangerous one, especially for pedestrians trying to cross it.

Deputy Mayor Matt Estabrooks wondered if  lowering the speed limit from 50 to 40 kmh would help along with radar signs showing drivers their actual speed combined with increased police enforcement.

Eppell said that in his former career as a traffic consultant, he learned if drivers are ignoring the posted speed limit, they’re just as likely to ignore a lower one. He added that his survey did not show a clear pattern of when speeding occurred, so it would hard to tell police when they should patrol, but he acknowledged that some RCMP presence would help.

While Eppell agreed that flashing speed signs do tend to reduce speed, the effect wears off over time “and then you have the other people who see it as a challenge to see how big a number they can get up there.”

Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell suggested installing a crosswalk with Councillor Michael Tower adding that when pedestrians press the walk button, there could be lights flashing on the other side of the Main Street blind hill to warn drivers someone is crossing.

“There’s likely not enough pedestrian traffic in the community to warrant that crosswalk,” Eppell replied, adding that if a crosswalk isn’t being used frequently, drivers will become “habituated to it not being used” and will ignore it.

Councillor Allison Butcher noted that Main Street (Hwy 106) is a provincial road and she wondered if the town could suggest that the Department of Transportation install a roundabout there.

“I love roundabouts. They really are a safety improvement,” Eppell said, adding, however, that it would be hard to find enough space for one at that location.

Councillor Bruce Phinney said that speed limits had been lowered in the past on some Sackville streets and he wondered if there had been any followup studies on how effective that was.

“I visit Dorchester quite a bit now, now that we’re amalgamated and I know it’s very unsafe to try to go across there,” he said. “You’re got to have your head on a 360 [degree] swivel…it’s unsafe and we need to find a way to deal with it.”

Pedestrian survey

During Monday’s council meeting and later during an interview on Friday at the intersection in Dorchester, Councillor Debbie Wiggins-Colwell said she would push for a pedestrian survey to supplement the one already conducted on traffic volumes and speed.

She added that in her 55 years living near the intersection, she’s heard squealing brakes and seen near misses with pedestrians.

“You’ve got parents walking with their children who don’t walk fast trying to cross the intersection to get to the library. You’ve got seniors who walk with canes and people with knee replacements and the kids at the day care who are often crossing here,” she said.

“I’m not an engineer, but I would like them to make something that could come with flashing lights to have a safe crossing,” she added.

“That’s one option, but I’m sure the engineers and public works could come up with a solution that would make it safe for us.”

As she was talking, David Hargreaves crossed Main Street from Woodlawn to Cape Road with his dog Cosby.

“I’m legally blind, so I have a hard time with this intersection,” he said, adding that sometimes the cars coming up the hill are going quite fast.

“He (Cosby) is actually pretty good. He stops usually at the intersection, and then I can hear if there’s a car coming,” he says.

“If they’re travelling over the speed limit and if you’re in the middle of the road, there’s not much chance you’re going to get out of the way,” he says, adding that although he has never actually been hit, he has had close calls.

“Years ago, I used to work for the village and they had a crosswalk here and it was painted and there was a sign up and I used to walk the children across here, and it slowed the traffic down both ways,” he adds.

“So maybe they need to do something like that, put a sign up or maybe a crosswalk for the pedestrians,” Hargreaves says.

“Hard to know where to put it, but a crosswalk might work.”

To read Town Engineer Jon Eppell’s report to council on his traffic survey, click here.