Traffic accidents on Algonquin Avenue continue to be a concern for many people, especially Monique Peters, who presented to members of council again this week in light of a pileup involving three vehicles on Monday afternoon.
“There was yet again another accident by the ESSO station it could have been prevented,” she said on Tuesday night/ “It was like the same accident as Rebecca Seidler had in March.”
Seidler, who presented with Peters to council in August, has shared her story involving a collision in which she had been involved as well as the effects it’s had on her life.
“I was involved in one of those accidents,” she explained to council in August. “I got rear-ended by a guy who was going way too fast down Algonquin and it left me in a really bad place. I was taken to the hospital, had whiplash and a concussion, and now a post-concussion injury. I’m still having problems…and I’m not the only person. I’m coming up here to say there are others with these issues. I’d like to go back to work. I’d like to have my life back.”
That night, Coun. George Maroosis called a motion for staff to report to council on possible options for Algonquin Avenue. Since then there has been little word on the progress, something Coun. Tanya Vrebosch, chair of engineering and works, said takes time considering the significance of Algonquin Avenue for North Bay.
“We’ve already responded to Peters to let her know we’re reviewing (Algonquin Avenue),” Vrebosch said after Peters’ presentation. “This is not just about the petition for a crosswalk in one section of Algonquin when the presenters came that day it was about the entire length of Algonquin from Front street to the highway intersection so staff is looking at it. We need to look at left-hand turns, speed limits, crosswalks, and etcetera. There is a lot to it.”
However, Peters has felt the city has done nothing to address the issue on Algonquin Avenue while giving more attention more quickly to other streets in relation to safety concern—notably when council passed the addition of a four-way stop on Cassells Street and Main Street West.
“The four-way stop on Cassells and Main West is done and it’s like wow, what does it take for somebody to get something done on Algonquin,” Peters said after her presentation in frustration. “I’m going to keep coming to council every couple of weeks because if somebody gets killed, it’s a liability issue, and if I get hit or killed or if my mother gets killed in an accident on Algonquin and it’s not my fault but the fault of somebody else, what has the city done. They’ve done nothing to reduce the danger and they need to. It’s been annotated. They did something on Cassells and Main West to reduce the traffic accidents? How many deaths have there been there? Zero. People have said multiple times there have been issues on Algonquin and what have they done? Nothing.”
Vrebosch said if council can solve issues quickly and easily they do, citing the aforementioned four-way stop as an example while reminding that other projects, like the safety of Algonquin Avenue, can’t be done overnight.
“With the traffic count we don’t just do it for a day, we do it for a few weeks to get a good count and if you’re doing them along the intervals of Algonquin, it’s going to take a little bit of time,” she said. “We are taking this seriously and we’ve always taken it seriously. We want it to be a quality report with good recommendations.”
