Traffic signals to be permanently removed at two intersections

City council has narrowly voted in favour of removing traffic signals at two intersections in Sault Ste. Marie that were part of a controversial traffic study launched by the municipality in June that resulted in a number of collisions.    

Members of council approved the removal of signals at the intersection of Albert Street East and Dennis Street and the Queen Street East and Church Street intersection during Tuesday’s council meeting. Meanwhile, traffic signals at Albert Street East and Elgin Street — where collisions spiked the most out of the three intersections monitored in the study — will be reinstated at the intersection.  

In a report to council, municipal services and design engineer Maggie McAuley initially recommended that signals be reinstated at the intersection of Queen and Church, with signals being adjusted to only turn green on the north-south leg during off-peak hours if there is a vehicle or pedestrian detected at the intersection.

But an amended motion brought forward by Ward 1 Coun. Sonny Spina looked at eliminating signals at that intersection altogether while looking at improving safety measures for pedestrians crossing there. 

“I think this is something we can look at to improve the flow of traffic, and I think we can safely implement other actions that can help increase the safety of all pedestrians in the area,” Spina said. 

Traffic signals at the three intersections were covered up over the summer, with stop signs installed on the minor roads as part of the study. The city collected feedback through a public survey as well as multiple phone calls, emails, articles and social media posts. It also collected speed and volume data through automated traffic recorders, cameras and site visits. 

The public survey received almost 4,000 responses and over 2,100 comments. Over 60 phone calls and emails were received, with more than 200 comments through social media and media coverage being reviewed. 

The study found that 61 per cent of respondents wanted to keep the traffic lights at Queen and Church, while 54 per cent favoured keeping them at Albert and Elgin and 55 per cent expressed a wish to keep the signals at Albert and Dennis. 

Ward 2 Coun. Luke Dufour told council that city staff presented a “reasonable compromise” in recommending the reinstatement of traffic signals at the intersection of Queen and Church. “I think it makes the most sense to keep the signals there, and to proceed with staff’s recommendation,” he said. 

Other members of council took the time to express their concerns over the removal of any of the traffic signals observed in the study, citing safety and accessibility issues for pedestrians due in part to the potential for increased speeding by motorists. 

“I can’t support the removal of lights,” said Ward 3 Coun. Angela Caputo. “I don’t see the benefit.” 

Sault Mayor Matthew Shoemaker supported Spina’s amended motion to remove signals at both the Albert-Dennis and Queen-Church intersections. 

“When we are over-signalized, we’ve got the opposite problem that we’ve got now. So yes, removing traffic signals is a hard thing to do because the people in the immediate area are affected by it. But we see over the long term when a signal isn’t warranted, it is better not to have it,” he told council. “I would have supported removing all three. I think that there are circumstances in which you have to look at the evidence and determine if it is the right thing to do, and I think there is good evidence that not removing the Elgin Street one, given the significant increase [in collisions], is the right thing to do in this case.” 

The amended motion was passed during Tuesday's council meeting by a slim margin of six votes to five. 

- with files from David Helwig