Image courtesy DRPS

Teen Cyclist Killed: Safety at crossing under ‘active study’

The Regional Municipality of Durham says safety at the intersection in Oshawa – where a cyclist was killed on Thursday – is under active study.

The statement was issued to Oshawa Councillor Brian Nicholson, who yesterday requested the region to investigate and improve safety at the intersection.

“Last night, we had a tragic fatal accident between a transport truck and a cyclist at the intersection of Wentworth Street and Simcoe Street South, both regional roads. This intersection has been a cause of concern for many years with a higher than normal number of accidents,” said Nicholson, in an email to the region’s administration.

Residents too have expressed concern over pedestrian safety.

“My daughter almost got ran over one time with me on that corner trying to get to jui jitsu class. The light was ‘green’ for pedestrians to walk and there was a black SUV that turned and went right through the pedestrian crossing basically right in front of her in the middle of the crossing area…not safe,” said AnnMarie Snider.

Freda Carswell pointed out that the lights at that corner change too fast. “When the light turns green, I take three steps out and it turns yellow. And I also notice that people speed up a bit , in order to avoid having to wait at the red light.”

Nicholson said regional staff responded to his email with the following: “Noted, Councillor. We are in discussion with DRPS to gather more info about this specific tragic collision incident. We will also review your suggestions below, including past collision history at this location. In fact, this intersection is currently under active study, will make sure the suggestions you’ve noted are included in the scope of this study.”

Councillor Nicholson

Nicholson had requested the region to undertake the following:

  1. Investigate the design of the intersection, including pedestrian crossings to see if improvements can be made to sightlines and markings, to try to limit the number of accidents at this location. Pedestrians have been reporting that trying to cross the intersection has been an issue for a long time.
  2. Investigate the approval of a Community Safety Zone on Simcoe Street South from Bloor Street to Ritson Road South and on Wentworth Street West from Nelson Street to Park Road South.
  3. Investigate the addition of more speed limit signs in the approaches to this intersection and the location of radar cameras at this location.
  4. That staff reach out to the Durham Regional Police for more speed enforcement in this area.

“As this intersection is at the nexus of both residential and industrial communities, we need to find serious solutions to the ongoing problems. Anything you can do to assist will be appreciated by area residents,” wrote Nicholson.

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