Luc resident Shirley Rosen and others expressed worry last week about the busy intersection of Cavendish Blvd. and Kildare Road.
That intersection has been a concern for many years.
Rosen told councillor Mike Cohen’s recent district council meeting that she has sent e-mails to the city regarding the traffic light and the issue of crossing Kildare on the south side of Cavendish.
“You cannot get across the street in the length of time they give you because the cars are turning from every which side, and I’m fast,” she said.
“The reply was that they’ll look into it, and it could take up to three years and, in the meantime, cross on the north side of Cavendish. This should be corrected now.
“What is going to be done, and how soon? Because something is going to happen.”
Cohen said he discussed ideas with Senekal and engineering division project manager Mohammed Ali. The councillor emphasized that none of the ideas have been discussed at the council level.
“The one issue I’ve heard more than anything else from constituents in the last five years is Kildare and Cavendish,” Cohen added. “Sometimes we please the pedestrian and they have a little more time [to cross], and the motorist is upset. Sometimes the motorist is pleased, and the pedestrians say it takes too long [to cross]. We all know the rush hours are no picnic.
“It’s a very difficult corner.”
Senekal says plans — just being discussed at the moment — call for a two-phase reconfiguration, first involving — this year — Cavendish and what will be called The Avenue, the street that will run east-west between Kildare and Mackle into the planned Cavendish Mall development.
“Due to the development, we’ll have a potential increase in traffic out of that exit, even though they’ll have a choice of three entry and exit points,” Senekal explained. “We’re trying to make it safer for the pedestrians to cross, and easier for people to get in and out of the development without waiting too long at the traffic light.”
Senekal said the second phase would involve Cavendish and Kildare.
“I’m well aware of the issues on the south side [of Cavendish], especially crossing Kildare east to west,” he acknowledged. “We have a concept in mind in which we’ll try our best to eradicate all these conflict points.
“We’re looking at unrestricted left and right turns — no traffic lights, for example, for that traffic — and at the same time, creating many little islands where pedestrians only have to cross one instead of two to three lanes of traffic. Where possible, we’re shortening the walking distances.
We want to create pedestrian refuges in the middle so if you can’t make it, you have a safe place to wait.
“By adjusting a lot of these different lanes, we have a little bit more freedom to actually program the [traffic light] controllers so that we could give you more time. Right now, we’re at our maximum, we cannot change anything more [in the time given to cross Cavendish].”
Senekal said he hopes, by this time next year, there will be “something on paper to be presented to council.” This prompted a negative reaction from the audience, in terms of the time it would take to make actual changes.
“You have to understand that these things aren’t done overnight,” Cohen said. The councillor added that he and Senekal discussed an “extraordinary plan,” of which he could not share the details.
“It’s an idea that will be brought to council, and if council buys into it, any type of fix that we come up at Cavendish and Kildare is not going to be cheap,” Cohen warned. “But we realize that it is vitally important we come up with something. I wish there was a quick fix.”
Councillor Steven Erdelyi said the problems stem from most of the cars at Kildare and Cavendish turning left or right, as opposed to going straight.
That intersection has been a concern for many years.
Rosen told councillor Mike Cohen’s recent district council meeting that she has sent e-mails to the city regarding the traffic light and the issue of crossing Kildare on the south side of Cavendish.
“You cannot get across the street in the length of time they give you because the cars are turning from every which side, and I’m fast,” she said.
“The reply was that they’ll look into it, and it could take up to three years and, in the meantime, cross on the north side of Cavendish. This should be corrected now.
“What is going to be done, and how soon? Because something is going to happen.”
Cohen said he discussed ideas with Senekal and engineering division project manager Mohammed Ali. The councillor emphasized that none of the ideas have been discussed at the council level.
“The one issue I’ve heard more than anything else from constituents in the last five years is Kildare and Cavendish,” Cohen added. “Sometimes we please the pedestrian and they have a little more time [to cross], and the motorist is upset. Sometimes the motorist is pleased, and the pedestrians say it takes too long [to cross]. We all know the rush hours are no picnic.
Senekal says plans — just being discussed at the moment — call for a two-phase reconfiguration, first involving — this year — Cavendish and what will be called The Avenue, the street that will run east-west between Kildare and Mackle into the planned Cavendish Mall development.
“Due to the development, we’ll have a potential increase in traffic out of that exit, even though they’ll have a choice of three entry and exit points,” Senekal explained. “We’re trying to make it safer for the pedestrians to cross, and easier for people to get in and out of the development without waiting too long at the traffic light.”
Senekal said the second phase would involve Cavendish and Kildare.
“I’m well aware of the issues on the south side [of Cavendish], especially crossing Kildare east to west,” he acknowledged. “We have a concept in mind in which we’ll try our best to eradicate all these conflict points.
“We’re looking at unrestricted left and right turns — no traffic lights, for example, for that traffic — and at the same time, creating many little islands where pedestrians only have to cross one instead of two to three lanes of traffic. Where possible, we’re shortening the walking distances.
We want to create pedestrian refuges in the middle so if you can’t make it, you have a safe place to wait.
“By adjusting a lot of these different lanes, we have a little bit more freedom to actually program the [traffic light] controllers so that we could give you more time. Right now, we’re at our maximum, we cannot change anything more [in the time given to cross Cavendish].”
Senekal said he hopes, by this time next year, there will be “something on paper to be presented to council.” This prompted a negative reaction from the audience, in terms of the time it would take to make actual changes.
“You have to understand that these things aren’t done overnight,” Cohen said. The councillor added that he and Senekal discussed an “extraordinary plan,” of which he could not share the details.
“It’s an idea that will be brought to council, and if council buys into it, any type of fix that we come up at Cavendish and Kildare is not going to be cheap,” Cohen warned. “But we realize that it is vitally important we come up with something. I wish there was a quick fix.”
Councillor Steven Erdelyi said the problems stem from most of the cars at Kildare and Cavendish turning left or right, as opposed to going straight.
