Port Hawkesbury Council has made a move to have their voices heard about the main thoroughfare in town.
They approved a motion Tuesday, to return Reeves Street back to four lanes.
The roadway is a provincial highway administered by the Department of Public Works.
As part of a pilot project, Destination Reeves Street, the roadway was repainted to three lanes several years ago to make it more of a main street in town, rather than a throughway.
After a meeting June 14, with Public Works, CAO Terry Doyle presented council with a letter from engineers addressing 14 issues elected officials made about changes needed.
This includes things like better signage to indicate to drivers that lanes have changed.
However, because it has been an ongoing issue for years, Deputy Mayor Mark MacIver put the motion forward to go back to the original configuration, to get the province’s attention.
He says communication between the town and the province on the pilot has been too slow.
“It being a provincial highway, it will put the onus back on the province to get the changes corrected and prove to the municipality that it can work at no cost to us, the taxpayers.”
MacIvor says he wants the province to provide council with reasons why Reeves Street should not go back to the way it was.
He specifically pointed out difficult left hand turns at the TD Bank and the Sobeys outlet that snarl up traffic.
Councillors backed the motion, including Hughie MacDougall who expressed his own frustration.
“Any left turn that has three or more cars, they get in that lane… the fourth car that wants to turn has to stay in the other lane. So, every time regardless of light changes or what, there’s a line up behind us…all the time…every day, it’s like that.”
MacDougall says the problem is only going to get worse when tourists come to town.
Mayor votes no
The current configuration of Reeves Street now, is not only safer than it was before but is also better for business, according to Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton.
She voted ‘no’ to the motion of changing the roadway back to four lanes.
Chisholm-Beaton tells our newsroom that although drivers may have to wait a little longer to make a turn, it is a small price to pay for pedestrian safety and hopes the final decision the province makes is based on data.
“Did it improve the safety of the street, is it safer for pedestrians, does it function better, is there less accidents, is there less severity of accidents, is the speeding now very minimal compared to before?”
She says there are still tweaks to be made including signage and maybe dedicated left turn lights at the two main intersections – another option from Public Works, who has acknowledged the process is taking longer than expected.
Chisholm-Beaton adds that in addition to safety, the way the lanes are now, shows Port Hawkesbury is “open for business.”
This, she says, makes not only a positive economic impact, but a good first impression.
In the meantime, the town will send a letter to the Minister of Public Works, reviewed by council, explaining their decision.
