Editor’s note: Jill Hill’s letter was sent to local media outlets earlier this month and her concerns were further validated Tuesday when a pedestrian was hit by a motor vehicle at the top of the town hill where Bridge St transitions to Main St. East. The pedestrian was transfered to Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

Dear Editor,

This morning I set out to walk from my house on Centre Street to a medical appointment at the bottom of the town hill on Bridge Street, on paper a leisurely stroll of no more than 10 minutes.

I had planned my route carefully, intending to make only one major crossing at the corner of Paul Street and Main Street East.  Instead it was much more than 10 minutes before I could make a dash across Main, to avoid the traffic rushing both east and west on Main, and also turning right on to Main from Paul.  Similarly, when I left my appointment and wished to do errands on Picton Main,to avoid the always treacherous top of the hill, I decided to cross Bridge Street lower down, again with cars hurtling both down and up, added to the pent up traffic attempting to turn left off Union Street.  In the end another senior citizen and I decided to do our dangerous sprint together on the theory that a driver might be more reluctant to take down two citizens than one.

When Main Street was under construction, temporary traffic lights were installed both at the corner of Paul and Main,and at the bottom of the town hill at Union.   We found this beneficial to both drivers and pedestrians.   There has always been the theory that traffic lights could not be installed at the top of the town hill, supposedly because in winter it would be difficult for northbound vehicles to stop.  The placement of the temporary lights avoided that issue and I would urge that this remedy should be strongly considered, in light of increased visitor traffic, additional residential development on the East side of Bridge Street and to encourage people to walk rather than drive.

Jill R. Hill

Picton