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Traffic Lights finally installed at Canaan and 174 | ||||||||||||||
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UPDATE: Traffic lights at Canaan and 174 | ||||||||||||||
Unanimous approval by the City of Ottawa's Transportation Committee to recommend to full council
the installation of the lights. Ottawa City Council will deal with this matter at their Wednesday, September 2 meeting. Clarence-Rockland has had their share of the money to install the lights for some years but it was evidently Ottawa that was holding up the process. Back to top |
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City of Ottawa should be approving their share for traffic lights on September 2, 2009 | ||||||||||||||
The Canaan Connexion has learned that another hurdle has been cleared in the ongoing saga to
have traffic lights installed at the intersection of Canaan Road and Highway 174. Two recent news stories from Orléans Online and CFRA News reported that Cumberland Ward councillor Rob Jellett wants the city to grant a request from the United Counties of Prescott-Russell to install traffic signals at the intersection of Highway 174 and Canaan Road. Rob Jellett is "pushing" for lights at 174 and Canaan. In the first story, Orléans Online npublisher Fred Sherwin writes: Cumberland Ward councillor Rob Jellett wants the city to grant a request from the United Counties of Prescott-Russell to install traffic signals at the intersection of Hwy. 174 and Canaan Road in the far east end. Prescott-Russell has offered to split the $174,000 price tag for the traffic signals and share the yearly maintenance and operating costs. Jellett says he supports the request based on traffic and safety concens in the area. While traffic volume at the intersection does not currently meet the city's criteria in determining where to locate new traffic signals, it will in the very near future as development in nearby Clarence-Rockland continues to expand. In the CFRA item, reporter Josh Pringle says: An Ottawa City Councillor wants the City of Ottawa to support the installation of a traffic signal on Highway 174 at Canaan Road in Clarence-Rockland. In a motion for the Transportation Committee, Rob Jellet recommends the city support a request from the United Counties of Prescott-Russell and the City of Clarence-Rockland to split the cost of the traffic control signal, with the necessary street lighting. Jellet says the intersection plays a vital role in providing access to the communities, adding the installation of a traffic signal will help mitigate collisions and improve traffic conditions. The city's share would be $87-thousand, with an annual maintenance fee and operating impact of $10-thousand. Public Works says that although the location does not meet the warrants for a traffic signal, traffic volumes will continue to grow at the traffic intersection and will at some point satisfy the warrants for the signal. The Canaan Connexion was contacted by councillor Rob Jellett's office advising that the Transportation Committee has unanimously recommended that Council "approve the installation of a Traffic Control Signal at the intersection of Ottawa Road 174 and Canaan Road". (You can read the committee's full report by clicking here.) Ottawa City Council will deal with this matter at their Wednesday, September 2 meeting. Given the unanimous approval at committee level, the recommendation should be approved. Back to top |
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Update: April 2009 | ||||||||||||||
The Canaan Connexion was advised as recently
as March that an agreement had been entered into between the City of Clarence-Rockland, the City of Ottawa, and
the United Counties of Prescott-Russell, to share the cost of installing traffic lights at the intersection of
Canaan Road and Regional Road 174. It was further advised that the traffic lights would be installed during the
spring of 2009, when the ground thawed. However, on Tuesday, April 14, 2009, during a community meeting held at the Cumberland Lions Hall the Canaan Connexion asked Ottawa City Councillor Rob Jellett what the status was for the traffic lights? Jellett replied that the lights were now slated to be installed during the fall of 2009. Why this further delay? Because the agreement between the three jurisdictions still has to be signed and certain items have to be worked out before the work can start. Things like who will put up the lights, and who will maintain the physical upkeep of the lights, etc. The agreement is evidently in the hands of the City of Ottawa legal department. Watch this space for further developments. Back to top |
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From Patrick's blog in 2008 | ||||||||||||||
(November 2008) We are still getting inquiries about the need for traffic lights at
the intersection of Canaan Road and Highway 174. Canaan forms the border between the Cities of Ottawa and Clarence-Rockland
but as it happens the entire intersection is actually within Ottawa territory. From speaking to our mayor and local councillor last year (2008), we learned that Clarence-Rockland has had their share of the money to install the lights for some years. It is evidently Ottawa that is holding up the process. It is ironic that they can not come up with the $100 thousand or so for traffic lights, and yet as we recently heard, Ottawa was asking Clarence-Rockland to put in around $425 thousand as its share to pave a portion of Canaan Road south to Vinette which many residents do not want for fear of drivers increasing their speed along that route. Back to top |
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From a note posted on our message board | ||||||||||||||
Here is a note that Blue Jay resident Luc Leger posted to our Canaan
Message Centre: Latest news on the lights The traffic results were not positive to the cause. Here is what I heard from staff, "On its own, Canaan/Road 174 only satisfies 80% of the warrant requirements and when all existing northbound left turns at Canaan/Wilhaven are re-assigned to Canaan/Road 174, it still only meets 89% of the warrant requirements. Because a traffic control signal is not technically warranted, we cannot recommend such an installation at this time." So the next step is going to have to be at the political level. Rockland Mayor Richard Lalonde and Councillor Kyle Cyr have contacted me and I'm trying to set up a meeting with them, and Ottawa Mayor O'Brien and our deputy City manager for this department to see if it's going to be possible to get our share of the money added to the 2009 budget. Rockland is willing to pay half. However, the fact that it doesn't meet the warrants will make it very difficult to get a majority of Ottawa Council on side. It's not really about the money (though that is limited), but about the need.. There are other intersections in the City that do meet the warrant test and thus need signals and funding first. Back to top |
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City of Ottawa crew takes traffic counts at Canaan? |
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