CORNWALL, Ontario – The City of Cornwall’s Infrastructure department recently made the case to the Budget Steering committee for a study of Brookdale Ave. and the Cornwall traffic circle.
The City’s General Manager for Municipal Works and Infrastructure John St. Marseille explained that the need to reassess the Cornwall traffic circle has become more pressing as the Lemay St. reconstruction project enters a new phase.
The Lemay St. project calls for the introduction of roundabouts at Lemay and Thirteenth streets and at Lemay and McConnell Ave.
There are concerns that having both a traffic circle and roundabouts in the city will cause confusion due to their different rules. At a roundabout the incoming traffic must yield to traffic already in the roundabout, but with a traffic circle, the outgoing traffic must yield to incoming cars.
“Roundabouts are the new industry standard,” said St. Marseille. “They are more cost effective, they encourage better traffic flow and are safer for pedestrians.”
St. Marseille also explained that roundabouts are better for cyclists and would put the city in a better position to receive provincial funding through Ontario’s Capital Links program.
These benefits will come at a cost however, namely a $250, 000 study to review the status of the Cornwall traffic circle.
“It will have to be an extensive study that takes into account traffic volume, transportation needs and public input,” said St. Marseille.
The Cornwall traffic circle is a heavily used piece of the City’s infrastructure, being a part of the Seaway International Bridge corridor to Akwesasne and the United States.
More than 20, 000 people use the Cornwall traffic circle every day, which according to St. Marseille is a level of use that rivals Hwy. 401.
The traffic circle also sees its fair share of accidents. There have been 28 collisions at the traffic circle since January 2016. St. Marseille explained that one reason for the number of accidents seen at the traffic circle is due to its size, which he says encourages higher speeds.
St. Marseille said that the traffic circle study may not necessarily result in the circle’s removal.
“We recognize it is a gateway feature,” he said. “It is not just a matter of bulldozing the area. We want to look at how we can maintain and embrace that gateway.”
