NEW MINAS, N.S. – A Canning resident is questioning existing crosswalk signage at Silver Fox Avenue after he says a lack of it meant a near-collision for him last week.
Quinton McCamon says the lack of crosswalk signs on Silver Fox Avenue in driving lanes heading toward Commercial Street caused him to “feel off guard when someone was getting ready to cross” as he was driving through an intersection Jan. 4.
McCamon says he “almost cut someone off” because he didn’t see visual cues – white lines and pedestrian signs – telling him a crosswalk was coming up.
He says the area where he experienced the near-accident is at the intersection of Silver Fox Avenue and Millett Drive, heading down from the highway between the Granite Drive and Silver Fox plazas – a road system that was under construction until around Dec. 17, when the Granite Drive interchange was officially opened for use.
McCamon says it was when he was driving down from this new interchange system that he was surprised to see a pedestrian crossing the road, and only after several moments of looking saw “very thin white lines across the road” painted on the pavement.
“If you are exiting from Millett Drive… and going up the new section on Silver Fox to the roundabout, you have no crosswalk sign,” he says.
“Luckily, I saw [the person] in plenty of time but I don't think I should have been confused as to why someone was crossing there.”
He says this, along the “couple extra seconds of brain-time” drivers will need when faced with the new road design and sometimes icy winter driving conditions are all “affecting how safely you can handle the situation.”
McCamon says he sent an email with photos of the area to the County of Kings on Jan. 4 detailing his concern.
“So, there are three directions of traffic that are confused and one direction – exiting the roundabout heading towards Commercial Street – that knows what's going on” he says.
Signage posted at the other crosswalks around the interchange system is sufficient, says McCamon. He feels all that is needed to fix this spot is simple – two lines solidly painted, and crosswalk signage posted for both directions of traffic to see.
“I just think the forgotten signs need to be added,” he says.
Municipality of the County of Kings engineering services manager Tim Bouter says, “following an inspection on Friday, January 11, 2019, we were made aware of the situation on Silver Fox Ave. and the installation of appropriate signage is being completed today, [Jan. 16].”
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