Dear editor:
I respectfully disagree with the dismissive and cavalier attitude of John Buchanan in his Dec. 16 letter, “Gateway bump out is no cause for concern,” describing the bump out at the intersection of Queen and Mississagua streets as minor and not a safety concern.
He was responding to my letter published Dec. 9.
Are we to repeat the York Road and Concession 6 intersection safety debacle, whereby repeated complaints and accidents were ignored until overwhelming evidence forced a reactive remedial response?
Meanwhile at the gateway intersection we have a scenario where the bump out merges outgoing traffic on Queen into a straight line with the incoming traffic from Chautauqua.
Accordingly, should either party run a stop sign, the result is a head-on crash. Never have I witnessed a scenario where a bump out aligns you with an oncoming traffic lane. Perhaps my mechanical and aeronautical engineering background afforded me to rapidly conclude this bump out defies, in my professional opinion, acceptable highway safety standards. It flies in the face of common sense.
This is hardly an ideal situation in a town where seniors have already driven into two banks, the same one twice (Royal Bank), the CIBC, one restaurant and one convenience store, for a total of five incidents.
I, too, regularly navigate this location, but not without incident. Horn blowing by aggressive, impatient drivers is common, in addition to several near-miss crashes.
Nerves are frayed and patience is in short supply in these COVID-19 pandemic times. Statistically, during this same time period, police are witnessing an alarming increase in both speeding and crashes.
I respect both complimentary or constructive criticism of my views. Showing deference to others' opinions and participating in a spirited and lively debate typically results in better decision-making. Echo chambers rarely work.
On the other hand, flippant trash-talking commentaries attacking the author's character have zero journalistic value. Instead they lay bare the true character of the attacker.
I respectfully request town administrator Marnie Cluckie to undertake a serious, sympathetic second review of this intersection design, and give due consideration to an accident victim's consequential life-changing injuries or death.
Samuel Young
NOTL
