TRAGEDY APPROACHES AT GO STATION

[lakeman]

THE CLOCK IS TICKING ON THE DAY SOME POOR SOUL WILL BE
STRUCK BY A CAR AND HURT, PARALYZED, OR KILLED BECAUSE THIS TOWN DOESN'T HAVE THE POLITICAL LEADERSHIP CAPACITY TO ADD A SIGN INDICATING A CROSSWALK ON HENRY STREET AT THE GO STATION.  I DARE ANYONE TO STAND AND WATCH AT RUSH HOUR ON ANY GIVEN WEEKDAY...THE NUMBER OF NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCES.  THERE ARE 2 PARALLEL LINES THAT GO FROM THE IROQUOIS TO THE GO LOT. THAT'S ALL.  CARS WON'T STOP TO 2 PARALLEL LINES.  
THEY NEED SIGNAGE!!
GET ON IT!! NOW!!

OR THERE WILL BE BIG NEWS COVERAGE WHEN THAT 1ST VICTIM GETS HIT.

MY 4 CENTS.

[Islander]

There is proper signage as per the Ontario Traffic Manual for Warning Signs. Henry Street is also under the jurisdiction of the Region of Durham and not the Town of Whitby.

FYI traffic signs are installed based on engineering guidelines and standards and not "political leadership".

There was a previous thread on this topic.

[Bundo]

That's just great that there is proper signage as per the lousy law.

The fact is that NOBODY obeys those two painted lines. My wife was nearly run over last winter by some pickup hockey knob speeding into the Iroquois lot that ignored the lines.

Lakeman is correct. Someone is going to be killed soon. It's simply a matter of time. I see everyone from soccer moms in minivans to good old boys in pickups revving their engines through the crosswalk when pedestrians are attempting to cross. It's like they are aiming for us now.

BuNdO

[Islander]

Quote:The fact is that NOBODY obeys those two painted lines.

I stop for pedestrians at the crosswalk.

How exactly is the law lousy? No amount of engineering can compensate for people that completely disregard the laws.

[Gusto]

A sign, no matter how large, will not stop a car from running somebody over. The proper rules are in place they just aren't respected. We need tickets to be handed out to offenders to solve this problem.

If people ignored red lights like they ignore crosswalks we wouldn't make the lights bigger, we'd fine the offenders into oblivion until they smartened up. The same thing should be done here.

[Bundo]

OK good post. I agree that steep tickets handed out would probably have a huge deterrant on people. However, I don't know if you have noticed but there is not a lot of police presence in Whitby.

But agreed this would definitely help prevent this accident waiting to happen.

I think a combination of a clearly marked overhead sign plus steep tickets (with point deductions) is what is required though. People will just keep claiming they didn't see it. Honest officer.

BuNdO

[lakeman]

This truly is like kindergarten folks.  All we need is 1 signpost showing 1 "stickman" crossing the road.  Right now all we have are 2 white lines that mean NOTHING to the majority of drivers,and I mean that Islander.  You may be one of the smart ones, but if you ask drivers about the straight white lines, many will scratch their heads and say "well where's the crosswalk sign then?" At the very LEAST, thick yellow crossing horizontal lines would alert a driver.  It may be the law, but those lines pose a ? to most drivers who have no clue.  So enough about "the law" and the different levels of gov't.  As I stated THE CLOCK IS TICKING and here we are still years later discussing whether or not to bring a life jacket with us on our whitewater rafting trip, or perhaps a helmut.  That's really how obvious and crazy this situation is. When I'm driving and I see a big green neon sign with a stickman crossing, I am warned of a crosswalk ahead.  I'm all for ticketing the bastards, but in the meantime, reinforce and advise the driver that a crosswalk is AHEAD.

GOOD SIGNAGE that's all we need... not 2 white ambiguous lines.

real simple.

[Elizabeth Roy]

Hello all,

As Islander identified this is a Regional Road so I will pass along these
concerns to the Regional Councillors to bring this to the works department and the Durham Regional Police to monitor during the busy times.

You can also email me at roye@whitby.ca and then I will pass this along to the Regional councillors for them to take action.

Thanks

[Nan]

Hi Liz, in addition to lights/stop sign, how about sidewalks on the East side of Henry so that people don't have to walk on the road?

After communiting on the GO for the last year, I don't know how people manage to not get hit because a few dark mornings I've come close to not seeing someone walking on the shoulder of the road. You can't blame people for walking on the shoulder, because if they are coming from the condos or Port Whitby, why would they cross to the West side of Henry just to have to brave crossing Henry?

Thanks,
Nan

Elizabeth Roy Wrote:Hello all,

As Islander identified this is a Regional Road so I will pass along these
concerns to the Regional Councillors to bring this to the works department and the Durham Regional Police to monitor during the busy times.  

You can also email me at roye@whitby.ca and then I will pass this along to the Regional councillors for them to take action.

Thanks

[Nan]

Forget the signs - put traffic lights there. I can't imagine signs are going to make a big difference when hundreds of cars are racing in and out of the lot.

lakeman Wrote:This truly is like kindergarten folks.  All we need is 1 signpost showing 1 "stickman" crossing the road.  Right now all we have are 2 white lines, that mean NOTHING to the majority of drivers.  At the very LEAST, thick yellow crossing horizontal lines would alert a driver.  It may be the law, but those lines pose a ? to most drivers who have no clue.  So enough about "the law" and the different levels of gov't.  As I stated THE CLOCK IS TICKING and here we are still years later discussing whether or not to bring a life jacket with us on our whitewater rafting trip, or perhaps a helmut.  That's really how obvious and crazy this situation is. When I'm driving and I see a big green neon sign with a stickman crossing, I am warned of a crosswalk ahead.  I'm all for ticketing the bastards, but in the meantime reinforce and advise the driver that a crosswak is AHEAD.

GOOD SIGNAGE that's all we need... not 2 white ambiguous lines.

real simple.