Local business owners urged city council to place a traffic light at the intersection of Algoma Street and Cornwall Avenue.
Council took four deputations at the final budget meeting on Wednesday. Council passed the $225 million city budget Tuesday with only At-Large councillors Rebecca Johnson and Aldo Ruberto voting against it.
Council is scheduled to ratify the budget next month.
Representatives of local business owners and concerned citizens requested that council place a traffic light at the intersection of Algoma Street and Cornwall Avenue. If approved, it would be the third light on Algoma from John Street to Bay Street.
Tara Lewis, owner of Growing Seasons Juice Collection, said businesses owners have been talking about putting a light at the intersection for years. She said many of her customers park on the other side of the road and have to dodge traffic in order to get to the other side.
“It has turned into a bit of a gong show down there watching people trying to get across the street,” Lewis said. “It’s quite frightening to watch people literally dodge in between cars. I think the biggest point is that it is sometimes impossible to get a gap on that street. I think some kind of method of stopping traffic for even a couple of minutes would give people a chance to cross.”
Lewis added the speed many vehicles travel down the road is another issue.
David Spackman, program manager of cooperative services for Co-operative Housing Federation of Canada, said they wanted to place a light at that intersection for safety and financial reasons.
While the city plans to upgrade Algoma from Bay Street to John Street, Spackman said unless there’s a light council will fall short in achieve the best outcomes.
“As the businesses moved south along Algoma, the pedestrian crossing moved away from the control light on Bay and Algoma and down towards Cornwall,” Spackman said.
“The local business owners have heard of many close calls on the street and many of their customers have brought in concerns to the business owners. The traffic that would result from the installation of a light would allow the business to full utilize those spaces in front of their store fronts.”
He said that they see the installation of the light as an investment for the safety of pedestrians and businesses in the area.
He added there was a light at that intersection but was removed in 2005.
At-Large Coun. Iain Angus said it would be a challenge to put the $100,000 necessary for the light into this year’s budget.
He suggested that if council couldn’t place a light at the intersection this year then maybe they could lay down conduits during the upgrades to Algoma. That way when they can put the light into another budget, they could just install it, he said.
Westfort Coun. Joe Virdiramo asked if it was possible to reduce the speed limit in that area to 30 km/h.
Council also heard deputations about better ways to use the currently closed conservatory.
Brian Cronk, committee member with Friends of the Conservatory, said they should looks for new ways to bring in money to the greenhouse. He suggested that they could set up a coin collector, change the hours of operation and offer weekend openings.
“Maybe it can be could be close Monday and Tuesday to offset some of the cost,” Cronk said. “We’re just looking into some ideas to help the future of the facility.”
He added they could also hold special events such as on Valentine’s Day.
Cronk pointed out that the city built the facility not to make money but to benefit the community by enjoying exotic plant life all year round.
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