Road safety concerns getting another look

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

The city is looking for more public feedback before addressing safety concerns on a street in central Oshawa.

As previously reported by The Oshawa Express, residents living on Tennyson Avenue near Harmony Road have raised concerns to the city’s community services committee regarding both aggressive and speeding drivers.

Back in October, a petition of more than 50 signatures was delivered to the committee. Staff were then directed to study traffic patterns, and safety/access concerns in the area.

Tennyson Avenue is a residential street with a pavement width of 8.5 metres and a posted speed limit of 50 km/h.

The alignment of the avenue between Farewell Avenue and Harmony Road South is not straight, as there is a sharp curve in the roadway as well as a change in horizontal grade.

The street also does not have any sidewalks on either side.

Within the past few months, city staff observed traffic patterns in the area.

A report on these studies was presented at the Jan. 20 community services committee meeting.

According to the staff report, “traffic data showed no safety concerns related to speed and traffic volumes” in the area.

It was also noted there were very few vehicles travelling at “excessively high speeds.”

“The percentage of those vehicles are negligible in comparison to the total,” the report reads.

Because of this, community services staff surmised the intersection of Tennyson Avenue and Milton Street, the street closest to the end of the roadway curve, does not warrant a four-way stop.

It was recommended parking be banned from both sides of Tennyson Avenue from Farewell Street to Harmony Road South.

Staff also advised the city should ask Durham Region staff to consider banning northbound left hand turns from Tennyson Avenue onto Harmony Road, as well as southbound left turns from Tennyson Court located directly across the street.

But two residents from the area appealed to the committee to take further action.

Resident Robert Castonguay said there is a constant fear among those living on Tennyson Avenue.

He said he’s seen vehicles end up on people’s lawns because drivers cannot properly navigate the tight curve of the road.

While traffic studies show most vehicles are within the speed limits, he says they “still don’t have a feeling of being safe.”

He suggested there are many ways the city could address the problem, including speed bumps, rumble strips, photo radar, crosswalks, flashing lights, and signage warning of seniors walking and children at play.

He believes removing parking from the street will only encourage motorists to drive faster.

Ward 4 city councillor Derek Giberson asked if lowering the speed limit to either 30 or 40 km/h would be a good first step.

Castonguay said a lower speed limit still wouldn’t necessarily help the citizens to feel any safer.

However, he did support the idea of installing sidewalks on at least one side of the road.

Responding to a question from Ward 4 city and regional councillor Rick Kerr, Castonguay said the issue intensified during the widening of Harmony Road a few years ago.

To avoid delays, he said many drivers started to use Tennyson Avenue as a way to access other southbound roads.

While staff’s report stated there have been no collisions in the area over the past few years, resident Sylvia Barnes disagreed.

She recalled an accident involving a Durham Region Transit bus and another vehicle.

The committee eventually supported a motion from Ward 5 city councillor John Gray to refer the issue back to staff.
Gray wants residents to be consulted about removing parking from the street, and to get feedback from Durham Regional Police.

He also wants studies on the feasibility of sidewalks and chicanes (a serpentine-shaped curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography) on Tennyson Avenue.

Lastly, he asked for an investigation into the collision alluded to by Barnes.

“Get everything on the table and let the residents decide by themselves, based on their feedback, what’s going to best serve them,” said the former mayor.