Letters

Pancake Lane speeding solution: Where is the Town?

For more than 20 years we have called Fonthill our home.

For 15 of the past 20 years we have agonized over the speed of traffic and the absolute lack of speed limit enforcement in the Town of Pelham.

Over the past 15 years, in our little corner of Pelham, we have petitioned the town, we have begged law enforcement and I have served on the now defunct Community Policing Committee, trying to get some kind of effective action on speed control along the western section of Pancake Lane.

We have watched as this town has dithered for years, doing “traffic studies,” painting useless lines and, once or twice, erecting a mobile speed radar to make drivers aware of their speed.  None of which has had any effect slowing traffic along this stretch of road.

We have asked for a stop sign to be erected at the foot of either Blackwood or Cherry.  We have asked that “speed humps” be installed in a similar fashion to those installed along Haist, between A.K. Wigg Public School and Welland Rd.  We have requested increased enforcement.

We were given none of these things.

We were told that according to engineering principles of traffic control, a stop sign is not warranted.

We were told that speed humps are not warranted.

All this time, as we have watched nothing happen except increased speeding along Pancake Lane, the Town has installed two absolutely useless crossing signals on Pelham St.

The one at the intersection of Pancake Lane and Pelham St. is the biggest waste of taxpayer money that I have seen.  I have not witnessed a single pedestrian using this traffic light since its installation.  That is not to say it has not been used, but as a resident of Pancake Lane, you would think that I would have had occasion to witness someone using this signal.

Now the Town has decided that the safety of residents on the northern section of Haist St. is important enough to install the absolutely mind-boggling chicane. This is to control speed along a section of road roughly half the length of the western section of Pancake Lane.

I cannot understand why this ridiculous traffic control device was approved and installed when Pancake Lane remains a speedway and an accident waiting to happen.

Pancake Lane is a popular pedestrian and cycling route.

I see leisure walkers out for a stroll, fitness enthusiasts out for a run, cyclists, folks walking dogs, parents pushing strollers and kids walking to and from school on the shoulder of this road while cars fly by at dangerously high speeds.

Haist St. has sidewalks, on both sides.

We have seen the City of Thorold erect stop signs along Cataract Rd. as a method of controlling speed along that particular roadway.

If the City of Thorold can erect stop signs at intersections of dead ends and Cataract Rd., why can't the Town of Pelham put aside so-called engineering principles and help the residents of this town feel safe walking along Pancake Lane?

D. Wynia

Fonthill