Can this notorious London, Ont. intersection be made safer with a red light camera?
A new safety assessment of the Hamilton Road and Highbury Avenue intersection makes several recommendations to address the high number of collisions.
The Civic Works Committee (CWC) recently received a report that confirms the intersection is one of London, Ont.’s busiest, with an average of 58,000 vehicles, 350 pedestrians, and 16 cyclists crossing it every day during a traffic count in November 2022.
It’s not just a busy intersection, it’s also more dangerous than most.
According to collision data, it ranks 24th on a list of 360 signalized intersections in London.
The report concludes, “Low compliance with speed limits, driver behaviour, distracted driving, and the angled or skewed configuration of the intersection all contribute to the number of collisions experienced at this location.”
The city isn’t planning to rebuild the intersection until 2029, so Councillor Hadleigh McAlister pressed the CWC to support some interim measures.
“To make it a safer area for the time being, until the intersection can be redeveloped,” Councillor McAlister told CTV News.
Specifically, repainting the worn-out pavement markings and prioritizing a red light camera at the intersection.
Location of red light cameras in London, Ont. (Source: City of London)
“We’ve seen them [be effective] at other intersections like Clarke and Dundas,” he explained. “It really has helped to bring down the accidents.”
London currently operates 10 red light cameras.
However, if council prioritized installing a red light camera at the intersection ahead of other locations in the city, it could politicize a public safety decision that’s currently made based on traffic data and engineering best practices.
So, the committee unanimously recommended that the intersections be repainted this spring, and that an upcoming technical review of the red light camera program establish an “appropriate prioritization” this summer.
McAlister believes the safety assessment on Highbury and Hamilton clearly justifies that it be prioritized as part of the upcoming review.
“Other parts of the city, I recognize they have busy intersections,” he added. “But I really do think that this one, with its proximity to the highway, makes it very important.”
Council will consider the CWC recommendations at a meeting on April 4.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh confirms his party will support the Liberals' federal budget
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his party will support the federal budget, ending any speculation that the party could pull out of its deal with the minority Liberal government.
Dental care program accepting claims for 1 million seniors
Citizens' Services Minister Terry Beech says 1,200 seniors have already visited a dentist and had their claims processed by the federal government's new dental care plan.