In an effort to improve traffic flow through Thornbury, the Town of the Blue Mountains (TBM) is attempting to address the sequencing and wait times of the traffic lights on Highway 26.
The stretch of roadway has two sets of traffic lights: one at the pedestrian crosswalk at Bridge Street and the other at the intersection at Bruce Street and Highway 26.
After seeing increased congestion over the summer months, the TBM transportation committee, through the guidance of the town’s operation’s department, has asked TBM council to consider reducing wait times on the aforementioned traffic lights.
The committee has proposed shortening the pedestrian crosswalk time from 35-seconds to 17-seconds.
The committee would also like to see the crosswalk paused for activation when the Bruce Street and Highway 26 light (East-West) is green.
“We recently had an assessment done of the pedestrian crosswalk at the fish ladder and notice that we can certainly, based on the recommendations there, decrease the amount of time needed for that to be active,” said Shawn Carey, director of operations for TBM.
The committee has also recommended reducing the light time for traffic heading North-South through the Bruce Street and Highway 26 intersection to allow priority for vehicles heading East-West.
TBM will require approval from Grey County for these changes.
“We're in discussions with the county on our own trying to improve that situation based on the recommendations that we had through our assessment,” Carey said.
The transportation committee is also requesting that council consider reinstalling the jersey barriers and “no stopping” signs at Bridge Street for the 2021 summer season.
“We want to make sure that we're able to get that traffic moving through here, but still maintaining safety for pedestrians,” Carey added.
TBM council approved the recommendations from the transportation committee at the council meeting held on Monday. Town staff will be working with Grey County to move forward with implementing the changes.
