Iroquois is undergoing significant expansion with construction now underway on the Merkley Oaks subdivision, a planned expansion to the Esso/Tim Hortons property, and the near completion of the commercial/residential property next door. All of these developments are happening on the north side of County Road 2 and highlight the need – yet again – for proper crosswalks to connect the north and south sides of this busy thoroughfare.
Many parties have stated there is a need to improve pedestrian traffic safety in this area: student traffic at lunch and break times, commercial traffic, employee traffic, and residential pedestrian traffic. A number of editorials in this newspaper have made the case for this. Yet, there has been minimal action to improve the situation. A pledge from a local business and employer to pay for some of these pedestrian improvements has been made, but turning that pledge into action has not yet occurred. Why? Who is fumbling the play?
Adding two crosswalks with lights and all the proper safety devices should not be this difficult. One is needed at the intersection of Elizabeth Drive and County Road 2; a second is needed at the Plaza intersection with CR2. South Dundas needs to work with SDG Counties – which owns the road – to install the crosswalks. Outgoing SDG Counties Transportation Director and incoming South Dundas CAO Ben de Haan has stated that the lower-tier municipality has to pay for the costs, but the Counties is agreeable to installing crosswalks. Those costs are not exorbitant.
In 2022, the estimated cost was about $16,000 per crosswalk. In the 2025 budget, council approved yet another vehicle replacement for nearly $70,000. Is there a better use for these funds? Installing two or three crosswalks and making do with one less truck purchase for a year is a good compromise in the name of safety. Why have not these important safety devices been installed?
Our western neighbours in Edwardsburgh-Cardinal announced last week that they will pay for three crosswalks in busy pedestrian areas this year – two in Cardinal crossing County Road 2, and one in Spencerville. That township faces the same jurisdictional challenges as South Dundas. Both are lower-tier municipalities operating in a two-tier structure. Yet, Edwardsburgh-Cardinal is getting crosswalks this year, at a cost of about $23,000 per crosswalk.
If our neighbours can do this, why cannot South Dundas? Improving pedestrian safety in a high-traffic area should be a high priority – as it is in other communities. South Dundas promotes itself as being a healthy and active living community. Previous councils have successfully navigated more sensitive crosswalk issues, such as the rainbow crosswalk in front of Seaway District High School. If this one item, which in the grand scheme of municipal budgets is small, is so difficult to bring to fruition, how can we expect anything else to be accomplished? It is an easy win and no one is even picking up the ball.
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