WARNING: DRAWINGS NOT TO SCALE

Last week’s news about the preferred option for the Picton Town Hill intersection, a roundabout, produced an outpouring of critical responses, ranging from doubtful to dismissive, across the County’s Facebook pages.

Documents presented at a Public Consultation Centre held on 4 October and available on the county’s municipal website failed to convince. Part of the issue, as project manager Jeff Shortt pointed out in response to queries, was that the drawings were not to scale.

We noted the comments on social media — the County’s Facebook page had logged 525 comments at last count, the Gazette’s a further 250 — and asked Shire Hall for some clarifications. Wellington resident Gary Mooney also posed questions and posted the answers.

Two concerns about the roundabout proposal involve the flow of traffic and the safety of pedestrians. Another was about the required construction time.

The intersection requires westbound traffic to enter from a steeply graded hill, dangerous to stop on during winter. For this reason, uphill drivers have right of way. This is an unusual arrangement, unfamiliar to out-of-town drivers and therefore a safety hazard.

The roundabout solves this problem by keeping all traffic moving. Plans also involve some levelling of the grade around the roundabout, making it safer to slow down to enter.

We asked how the proposed pedestrian crosswalks might affect the flow of traffic. The illustration the County provided at the PCC shows three crosswalks perilously close to the moving traffic of the roundabout.

Mr. Shortt noted that the diagrams presented at this stage in the process are not accurate, and that “sufficient space would be provided to allow a car to stop without impeding traffic in the roundabout.”

We still wonder what would happen if two or more cars had to stop. Given the volume of traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian at various times at this intersection, this seems a likely scenario.

Kelly McGillivray, of the County’s Traffic Advisory Committee, also clarified in a comment on Mr. Mooney’s Facebook post that most crosswalks associated with roundabouts are not the traditional “flashing light” crosswalks but, “instead, pedestrians are instructed to wait for a gap between vehicles.”

Mr. Shortt noted in a response to Mr. Mooney that the proposed changes to the intersection include making the grade of the approach less steep, which would ameliorate the challenge of coming to a stop on an icy hill, should traffic require that.

Mr. Mooney asked about a wintertime right of way and/or a heated road surface for westbound traffic and Mr. Shortt noted, “this would be reviewed at the detailed design phase.”

Mr. Shortt also noted that construction time would be “a minimum of one full construction season.”

Some concerns are answered in the basic design of any roundabout: shoulders are calculated to allow large transport vehicles extra space for turning; snow removal is also factored in, as are appropriate sightlines.

Although the roundabout is a “preferred” solution, the Environmental Assessment is still underway. The other option, a signalized intersection, has not been discarded. It is half the estimated two-million-dollar cost. As the chief objection noted in the PCC documents was that it made for “longer crosswalks,” those who object to the expense and size of a highway-grade roundabout at a town intersection might advocate for signals.

Registering concerns now, before 20 October, is very important so that the next phase of the project can address them.

To register comments and questions, send them straight to the project managers, Steve Taylor of BT Engineering (email: [email protected]; phone: 613-228-4813) and Project Manager Jeff Shortt (email: [email protected]; phone: 613-476-2148 ext. 1007).

Citizens are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the details of the Public Consultation Centre, provided at: https://www.thecounty.ca/government/municipal-projects/special-capital-projects/picton-town-hill-improvements-study.