Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation (MTO) has described Hockley resident Larry Calcutt’s safety concerns about the intersection of Highway 9 and Airport Road as unwarranted.

Mr. Calcutt last week labelled this intersection one of the most dangerous in Canada because of the number of serious accidents he has witnessed while working at a Sunoco gas station located at the intersection.

His suggestions were to add a left turn signal for both directions and to decrease the 80 km/h speed limit at the intersection. The traffic signal at the intersection is owned by MTO but operated and maintained by the Region of Peel.

“The volumes and signal timing at the intersection of Highway 9 and Airport Road are not close to satisfying the warrant criteria for left turn phases at present,” Emna Dhahak, Senior Bilingual Media Liaison Officer for MTO, wrote in response to the suggestion. She said that to determine whether the intersection justified a left-turn signal, the MTO and Peel would refer to Book 12 of the Ontario Traffic Manual (OTM), which outlines the justification for installation at a signalized intersection.

A left turn signal might be justified when one or more of the following occur:

1. If left turning vehicles are not finding suitable gaps and volume exceeds at least two vehicles per cycle not turning and the level of service at the intersection will not be jeopardized.

2. If the left-turn volume plus the opposing volume is more than 720 vehicles per hour.

3. If a field check shows that vehicles consistently require more than two cycles in the queue in order to turn left.

Nor was reducing the speed limit an option.

“For speed limits to remain effective they should be related to the design speed of the road. An effective speed limit will improve road safety and promote better traffic flow,” stated Ms. Dhahak.

“According to the Ontario Highway Traffic Act the speed limit on all King’s highways is 80 km/h, unless otherwise posted. The speed limit on King’s highways is typically reduced in well developed urban areas or school zones. Since this section of Highway 9 operates as a rural highway, the current posted speed limit of 80 km/h is appropriate,” she added.

She said imposing a lower speed limit at an intersection “will not necessarily result in a reduction in vehicle speeds or an improvement in safety.”

The ministry had received only one complaint about the intersection in the last three years. That complaint was in regards to traffic operation at the Tim Hortons and gas bar entrances in the northwest quadrant of the intersection.

Ms. Dhahak said ministry staff are investigating traffic operations at the entrances and a turning movement count will be carried out this month once traffic patterns have returned to “normal” after the holiday season.