By LYN TREMBLAY

Residents on Brant Hill in Port Dover will have two new stop signs added to their street network.

Recently, councillors supported the installation of an all-way stop at Pansy Avenue and Erie Street as well as one at the Brant Avenue/Dean Avenue/Passmore Avenue intersection.

The latter has been in the works since 2006, when Councillor John Wells first received a request for an investigation into the safety of the intersection from affected residents who live in the vicinity. In May of 2007, a report from the public works department that recommended the all-way stop was defeated by council who asked staff to seek legal advice regarding the removal and trimming of trees and hedges which would improve sight lines.

In October 2009, the residents presented a petition requesting a stop sign on Dean at Brant Avenue.

Ms. Catherine Long spoke on behalf of her neighbours at a recent Council-in-Committee Meeting. “Measures to improve sight lines have been ineffective,” she stated. “Residents use extreme cautionary measures, (when exiting Brant Avenue), sometimes turning right onto Passmore, going down to the bottom of the hill to turn around and come back up.”

When staff had previously recommended a three-way stop at the intersection, protests were received from those who felt the grade on Passmore was too steep and would be a safety hazard especially for vehicles towing boats and trailers, but Ms. Long presented photos supporting the logic that the grade was not onerous. “It’s not as steep as the road at the lift-bridge. It may be inconvenient but it is not a challenge.” She added, “I’m not comfortable pitting neighbour against neighbour but there have been too many close calls.”

Councillor John Wells preferred a two-way stop (on Dean and Brant) but General Manager Eric D’Hondt of Public Works & Environmental Services recommended an all-way stop. “If a car is turning left off of Brant, there is the potential that it would be hit by a car coming north.”

Councillor John Hunt, a former Ontario Provincial Police officer agreed, saying “if they are stopped at Brant they will concentrate on the car stopped at the left and will miss the car coming up the hill. You will have more accidents with a two-way stop.”

In June of last year, residents on Pansy Avenue and Erie Street requested the installation of an all-way stop sign at that intersection. Prior to receiving the request a study was already in the works assessing the growing volume of vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the downtown core of Port Dover. The completed report recommended an all-way stop at Pansy and Erie.

The Vote: Councillors voted unanimously in favour of staff recommendations to install all-way stops at both intersections.