City staff are recommending the speed limit be reduced along Woodglade Boulevard in the west end of Peterborough following a crash that claimed the life of a three-year-old girl in late March 2023.
On Monday, Peterborough city council will receive an extensive report which recommends the speed limit be reduced from 50 km/h to 40 km/h to help improve left-turn sightlines from Lynhaven Road.
The report also recommends the Community Safety Zone be extended from Sherbrooke Street to Kawartha Heights Boulevard to “increase driver awareness” of school children attending either Monseigneur Jamot Catholic School on Woodglade or nearby St. Catherine Catholic Elementary School on Glenforest Boulevard.
The recommendations come after city council this spring requested a traffic operational review of Woodglade Boulevard near the intersection of Oakwood Crescent. Neighbourhood residents petitioned the city for traffic changes along Woodglade after a fatal crash on March 27. Police say a SUV left the roadway and struck the girl who was standing in a driveway with two other children. The girl later died in hospital of her injuries, police said.
The driver of the vehicle was charged in September with careless driving causing bodily death or harm under the Highway Traffic Act. That case is before the courts.
The staff report notes that prior to the March 23 incident, over the past six years there were three collisions reported on Woodglade between Kawartha Heights and Sherbrooke. Two involved drivers colliding with vehicles parked on-street and the other involved a driver reversing out of a driveway and striking an oncoming vehicle.
“A review of the collision history did not reveal a pattern of collisions,” states Michael Papadacos, acting commissioner of infrastructure and planning services.
The traffic review involved a two-week period analyzing vehicles’ speed and vehicle volume and compared it to other “high-capacity” collector roadways in the city. Woodglade Boulevard had on average 4,465 vehicles per day with 85 per cent of vehicles driving at or below 54 km/h.
Peak travel hours were 8 a.m. to 8 a.m. with 394 vehicles per hour and 3 p.m. to 4 p.m with 412 vehicles per hour, the report notes.
“(They) showed values within the expected range for a high-capacity collector roadway in the City of Peterborough,” Papadacos states.
However, the report notes sightlines for vehicles entering Woodglade Boulevard from Lynhaven Road fail to meet current Transportation Association of Canada guidelines based on the current operating speed.
“The recommended engineering approach to reduce the required sightline distance is to reduce the posted speed limit or provide advance warning signs for northbound drivers,” the report concludes.
The report also recommends painting crosswalks, stop bars and yellow centrelines along Woodglade to “provide drivers with added guidance and improve awareness of pedestrians” crossing at the side street.