Fort Erie to consider traffic calming measures on Farr, Concession and Washington

Three areas of town have been identified for potential traffic calming measures in Fort Erie.

Councillors at the August 12 council-in-committee meeting passed two reports–one for Farr Avenue and one for Concession Road–and deferred a third regarding Washington Road, that discusses two-year trials for traffic calming measures.

Council opted to defer the third report so the consultants could review one of the recommended measures that would restrict left-hand turns from Washington onto Dominion Road.

The report that discussed Concession Road approved the installation of the measures, while the Farr Avenue measures are subject to the inclusion of funding for the installation in the 2025 budget.

Likewise, the Washington Road measures, if ultimately supported when it comes back to council next month, would be subject to 2025 budget approval.

Councillors were generally supportive of the measures.

“I walk by there all the time and it’s one of the most dangerous roads for children. It looks safe until you are actually driving along with children or dog walkers on the sidewalk and look at the speed of traffic,” said Councillor Joan Christensen regarding the Farr Avenue area.

It was the only area of the three that met the town’s criteria for public engagement. Measures include:

• Reducing the speed limit to 40 km/h from Gorham to Ridge roads,
• two traffic-calmed neighbourhood signs,
• a permanent radar speed display device,
• “slow down” pavement markings,
• and five sets of speed cushions.

The Concession Road report includes similar measures in the area from Garrison Road to Albany Street.

However, there are additional recommendations, including a raised crosswalk at the north leg of the Concession Road and Baron Drive intersection and “vertical centreline treatment installed with a speed-posted sign and flexible delineator posts along the shoulders on Concession Road south of Baron Drive.”

If approved as is, Washington Road would see reduced speed limits, “slow down” markings, and speed cushions installed in the area between Dominion Road and Helena Street, as well as the aforementioned directional closure.

It was the directional closure that had politicians worried.

“This is another incident where the public engagement criterion has not been met, and we’re going to go ahead and do something that I know is going to make the residents on Washington Street furious,” said Mayor Wayne Redekop.

Initially he wanted to pass the remainder of the report while putting a hold on the directional closure to see how the remaining measures affect traffic. However, Director of Infrastructure Services Kelly Walsh recommended deferring everything so they can discuss with the consultants.

“I would still defer to our consultant on this. This is designed as a system, the hip bone’s connected to the leg bone type of thing,” Walsh said, fearing the removal of one feature could have unintended consequences.

Unintended consequences were concerns for all three of the areas. Redekop questioned whether traffic calming measures on one street would just divert the traffic and problems to a neighbouring street.

“If I were looking for a way to get from Point A to Point B faster than some other route? As soon as this is all set up on Farr Avenue, I would avoid Farr Avenue and I would go one street north, and that’s a problem because the school is right on Highland,” he said.

Walsh said that has been identified in the preparation and will be considered as they monitor the areas during the trials. Traffic avoidance is fed into the model the consultants use.

“It depends on magnitude,” Walsh said, noting that staff will look at options if traffic issues crop up elsewhere as a result of these measures.

The mayor was also worried about the lack of public engagement. A threshold is in place to ensure projects like these that the municipality undertakes are merited and not just the result of a few, loud residents.

Walsh said the traffic coordinating committee believed, despite the lack of engagement, that these measures were needed. In some cases, Councillor Ann-Marie Noyes suggested it may be a case where residents have been asking for something for years that they didn’t bother to reach out for the most recent request for engagement.

Either way, Redekop cautioned against setting up a precedent where residents in other neighbourhoods demand measures without meeting public engagement thresholds.

“We better make sure we don’t get caught in that trap,” he said.

Councillor Nick Dubanow supported the measures in general as a way to slow down traffic without having the punitive measures like fines that can draw the ire of motorists.

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