Gas, Break, Honk

Milton has several major issues that need to be addressed. They are as follows.
-Urban Sprawl
-The Environment
-Traffic & Noise Polution
-Lack of Commercial/Retail Space

The one I wish to address this week is traffic. Simply put, there is too much of it with too little space for it. Back when Milton was a town of 30,000 people, two lane roads and stop signs where adequate. We have reached over 40,000 now with 20,000 more expected to be here in the next few years. As we stand right now, those 10,000 new people brought with them a lot of cars. It has come to the point where our roads are so stuffed with cars and trucks, driving in town has become a nightmare.

I feel comfortable driving in Mississauga, I visit there frequently to shop and go to school. In Milton, I'm on a razors edge. I was run off the road the other day coming of the 401 onto James Snow. I have seen so many near misses it's not funny. There have already been a few bad accidents. How many more do we need, how many have to be killed for the people in Town Hall to turn off their Dukes of Hazzard reruns and fix the problem.

I have identified the following problem areas.
-Laurier & Ontario: The intersection is crooked creating a turning hazzard.
-Ontario: Speeding over 20kph is common
-Bronte & Steels: Rail bridge and dip blocks view making turning onto Steels from Bronte dangerous.
-Steels Between Martin & Ontario: Speed limit is too low for this kind of road, it should be 60kph all the way up.
-Brittania Between Hwy 25 & Trafalgar: Cyclists pose a hazzard on this road as it is too narrow for them. They should not be using it.
-Steels & Wheelabrator: Heavy traffic on Steels and poorly syncronized lights make it difficult for cars and transport trucks to exit onto Steels, needs lights.
-Laurier & Vanier: Tight bend in road and high fence blocking view makes exiting form the west side of Vanier onto Laurier dangerous. Needs four way stop.
-Dairy Road: Way too narrow for traffic volume. Was supposed to be widened to a more satisfactory four lanes but this was postponed for unknown reasons.
-Dairy & Fourth Line: Fourth Line should never have been closed until the James Snow extension was finished. Instead we have a traffic light to nowhere. People going north on the open portion of Fourth cannot turn left onto Dairy due to uneccessary road cones.
-Tramaine & Steels: Lights are needed here.
-Dairy & Ontario: We need turn signals here badly. Particularly for left turns onto Dairy from Ontario.
-James Snow & Highway 401: This must be the only highway interchange with no traffic lights. Lights are badly need here.
Hwy 25 & Brittania: Turning lanes are needed.
-Railway grade separations are badly needed on Dairy, Main, and Tompson.
-Closing access to Nipissing from Main was a dumb idea which cut off mall parking. Lights are also needed at Nipissing & Tompson.
-The proposal for access off Pearson Way into Bishop Reading HS was a very good idea. This should be done for safety reasons.

Noise pollution on our roads is also a serious concern. My house backs onto Bronte. I cannot leave my windows open without going deaf. Truck noise was the biggest issue but this has faded. I feel sorry for people who back onto Dairy, Tompson, and Steels. The noise they put up with must be far worse. I know people who live near Sam Sherret who say they can hear noise from the 401. This could be easily solved with better traffic controls and noise barriers. Unfortunately, the Town is too cheap to put them up, telling people that if they want them, they must pay for them. Excuse me but what do we pay taxes for. The Town has since offered to pay half for some Dairy residents but this is not enough.

I wonder how long the perverbial colesterol of Town Hall will sit in our clogged veins of steel. The time for action is now. Do we want to be an Oakville or Mississauga, or would we rather be another Brampton or Toronto. The latter is where we're headed. Take a drive to these places and you'll see what I mean.