Speed and increasing traffic congestion along Wilson Drive has a group of Springwater Township residents voicing their concerns about what they believe is an increasingly dangerous intersection.
Melanie Farris, who lives in the Snow Valley Highlands subdivision near the intersection of Wilson Drive and Seadon/Carson roads just outside the Barrie city limits, recently created an online petition to try to bring attention to what she believes is a dangerous intersection and was the scene of a serious collision recently.
“It feels like nothing has been done," Farris told BarrieToday. "They did install a flashing light on Wilson, but people just don’t slow down. They go so fast through there and it feels like you’re racing to get across and risking your life every time you have to cross that intersection.
“I am just terrified for my own life, my husband’s life and all of my neighbours. It’s getting crazy and I wanted something to be done," she added.
The online petition has more than 650 signatures and Farris says she's happy to know she isn’t the only one with concerns.
“Everyone who is signing this petition wants a change, so it’s not just me,” she said. “I feel like I don’t really have much of a voice being a stay-at-home mom, but when we collectively come together and we sign petitions and all agree, then something happens.
"I am glad it’s getting attention,” Farris added. “It’s been years and years of our neighbourhood trying to have something done."
The road is known as Ferndale Drive within the Barrie city limits and becomes Wilson Drive once drivers cross the border into Springwater Township. The two-lane road is widely used as a link to Highway 26 north of the city.
Springwater Township Deputy Mayor Jennifer Coughlin says the issue first came to light in 2017 during traffic studies that had been conducted for the Midhurst Secondary Plan. Based on those results, a roundabout was proposed for the intersection, which officially falls under County of Simcoe jurisdiction.
“We are experiencing growth and it’s just busy. We are working on creating the roundabout with the county and they have been extremely receptive,” Coughlin told BarrieToday.
About 18 months ago, the deputy-mayor says a local community group reached out to express additional concerns, at which point a flashing amber light was installed in the interim until the roundabout is constructed.
Reconstruction of the intersection is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2022 and the roundabout is planned for 2022-23.
“Unfortunately, since then we just continue to see volume and (it) is not going away," said Coughlin, who's also a member of Simcoe County council at the upper-tier municipality. "Wilson (Drive) is becoming an arterial road and it’s kind of an alternative that people are taking now.
“It’s about creating the safest environment and right now, with the county looking at alternatives, we were hopeful the amber light would have created that for residents, but I travel that road pretty much every day, and it’s really, really busy,” she added. “Turning on there, (people are) not comfortable doing it because there is such speed coming, and it’s on a bit of a hill, so it’s just not ideal.
"As upset as people are, I think everybody is looking for an interim solution, but an effective one. I don’t know what the answer is.”
Because this intersection is the responsibility of the county, township officials are currently working with them to address the safety and traffic concerns, said Springwater communications officer Christine Gillespie. The county installed a flashing beacon on Wilson Drive to draw motorists’ attention to the Seadon/Carson cross traffic, she said.
Gillespie says the township also reached out to the county regarding the possibility of installing stop signs on Wilson Drive. But because Wilson Drive is a county road, only the county can install stop signs or signal lights along it.
The township also undertook a traffic-calming investigation for the area on Aug. 23, with the placement of a speed-monitoring board on Seadon Road. The data collected will help the township make its case to the county, Gillespie said.
“The township has also placed a semi-permanent speed board on Seadon Road to alert and educate motorists about speeding," she added.
The intersection was identified for improvements in 2017, and the county is undertaking work to deliver infrastructure that will suitably eliminate the current issues, said Gillespie, noting proposed changes include increasing capacity, installing turning lanes and lighting, improving drainage and roadside safety, and constructing a roundabout.
Despite the road falling under county jurisdiction, Coughlin says all levels of local government need to work together to find a solution.
“I am hopeful and confident the county will continue to work with us. If we all move in a path of trying to get a four-way signalled intersection there, it’s just going to interrupt the progress on the roundabout,” she said. “There is work being done... but when you can’t see it it feels like nothing is being done.”
In the meantime, Farris says she's unsure what more can be done to quell their concerns until the roundabout is built, because in the meantime "traffic is just getting worse."
“Ideally, (we’d like to see) lights… but from what they’re telling me that’s not possible,” she said. “I know Springwater Township is working toward a solution, but it’s just we need to work with the county to get something done.
"It seems everyone wants to come together to solve the problem — it’s just a matter of how quickly we can do something and how much longer do we have to wait?”
