The City of North Bay's Engineering Department is recommending two local intersections move from their current two-way stop sign configurations to an all-way stop traffic control arrangement.
See related: City eyes strategy for safer streets and sidewalks
Council will be asked during Tuesday's regular meeting to authorize an amendment to Traffic By-Law No. 2014-38 to adjust the traffic control at Mountainview Drive and Wickstead Avenue, in Birchaven to an all-way stop.
The same recommendation is being made for the intersection of Massey Drive and Blair Street, in West Ferris.
Mountainview Drive and Wickstead Avenue
Community feedback stemming from the temporary use of an all-way stop during the Trout Lake Road construction project in 2022 led to a traffic count and the proposal to change to an all-way stop permanently, according to the associated staff report.
The intersection is currently controlled by stop signs on Wickstead Avenue, while traffic on Mountainview Drive is free-flowing. Both Mountainview Drive and Wickstead Avenue are classified as collector roads.
A warrant analysis was undertaken following guidelines in Book 5 of the Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM):
"For the volume split, the volume of the minor street must not be less than 30 per cent of the total volume entering the intersection, which was met for the
intersection. The minimum intersection volume warrant (the total number of vehicles using the intersection during peak hours) was also met for the
required time period.
"All-way stop conditions can be considered at intersections where there is a high accident frequency (an average of three collisions per year over a three-year
period). Only collisions susceptible to relief through an all-way stop are to be considered. During the period reviewed, there were eight reported collisions at the
intersection that met the criteria for this warrant, so the warrant was not fully met. Based on the volume warrant being satisfied, all-way stop control is warranted
at this intersection."
Massey Drive and Blair Street
The City of North Bay reports it has received numerous requests to examine the Massey and Blair intersection. Traffic data was collected In 2017 at the intersection to determine if all-way stop control was appropriate but it did not meet the warrants for all-way stop set-up at that time.
In 2022, staff received another request to review the intersection's traffic control. Both roads are local roads in a residential neighbourhood and traffic on Massey Drive is controlled by stop signs, while traffic on Blair Street is free-flowing.
The Ontario Traffic Manual states, "All-way stop controls should only be considered at the intersection of two relatively equal roadways having similar traffic volume demand and operating characteristics. The traffic warrants for minor and local roads are for traffic volume and volume split, or for collision history."
According to the staff report, "For the volume split, the volume of the minor street must not be less than 30 per cent of the total volume entering the intersection, which was met for the Massey Drive and Blair Street intersection. The minimum intersection volume warrant (the total number of vehicles using the intersection during peak hours) was not met for the required time period."
There were only two reported collisions at this intersection that met the criteria for this warrant regarding augmenting traffic control to an all-way stop, below the threshold of three per year necessary.
However, "It was found that Massey Drive has a higher volume of traffic compared with Blair Street and that the stop control should be reversed."
Instead of reversing the stop signs from Massey to Blair, the recommendation for an all-way stop control is "partially warranted," and the "implementation of all-way stop control is supported by the Engineering Department."
