By Mark Squibb | Vol 7 No. 25 (Dec. 19, 2019)
Some residents of Mount Pearl might need to adjust their route home in the near future.
The City will be installing a right-turn only sign at the intersection of Blossom Avenue exiting onto Park Avenue in response to a safety concern from a resident of Blossom Avenue.
“It’s a little bit difficult in terms of sightlines, because as you know, there is a retaining wall on the corner on the right-hand side that makes seeing up and down Park Avenue from Blossom a little bit difficult,” explained councillor Andrew Ledwell.
He noted the resident had requested that the City change the traffic flow on the avenue to a one-way street; instead, the Infrastructure and Public Works Committee recommended keeping it a two-way street, but will install a right-turn only sign.
Ledwell noted that accident data showed the collision numbers were low, but with the addition of the Team Gushue Highway, there would be more traffic in the area.
Councillor Lucy Stoyles was not on board with the idea.
“The reason why I’m not going to be supporting the change is that we haven’t done anything to let the residents know,” she said. “We’ve had one person contact us and ask us for a change.”
Stoyles said in her opinion, the retaining wall did not present much of a safety issue.
“Even today in the rain, I didn’t find it dangerous,” she said. “There is a spot to stop, this is where you have to stop, and you know you’ve got to edge out a bit further because the wall is a bit higher. But I don’t really believe the residents would want this change. And it’s not only the residents on Blossom, it’s the other streets off it, and the people who use it on a regular basis.”
She said that residents in the area should have been polled.
“I think we’ve got to be a lot more proactive when we make changes like this, because once we make the change, it’s done,” Stoyles said. “I would rather see us poll residents and do a bit more work on it before we make a major change like that, so I can’t support this motion.”
Councillor Bill Antle said residents in the area were, in fact. polled.
“I talked to 80 per cent of the residents – one of them even called me back afterwards— and they are all in agreement with no-left-hand turn on Blossom Avenue onto Park Avenue,” he said. “Right now, most of the residents refuse to go that way. They go the opposite way. Some of the residents told me they’re quite happy with this happening. They’re telling me that sometimes people are using Blossom Avenue as a thoroughfare, as a race track to go from Smallwood Drive to Park Avenue to get beat the traffic.”
Antle said the other 20 per cent of the residents were not at home.
Deputy Mayor Jim Locke clarified that the road would indeed remain a two-way street, and added that he believed there was a valid safety concern. The retaining wall was put in by the City some years back, he recalled, because there used to be a concrete wall up that was listing out, and that was even higher than what’s there now.
“So, we put in the retaining wall, and it’s still a sightline issue,” he said. “And the challenge that some of the residents have, that I spoke with, is that you have to be out fully into the land that’s heading east on Park Avenue before you can see around the wall.”
Locke allowed the change will be an adjustment, but explained that residents could use Pleasant Avenue (off of Blossom) to get onto Park, adding about, he suggested, 15 seconds to the commute.
He reiterated that traffic data in the area hasn’t been updated since the opening of the team Gushue Highway.
Councillor Isabelle Fry said she has family on Blossom Avenue, so she is familiar with the area, and agreed it was a safety concern and that she herself never makes the left hand turn for that reason.
Councillor Andrea Power agreed, and said she hoped the decision would deter people from using side streets as thoroughfares.
Put to a vote, the motion to ban left hand turns passed with all but Stoyles voting in favour. Residents of Blossom Avenue will be notified before the sign is installed.
