South Huron plans traffic light improvements

The municipality is moving ahead with improvements to Exeter's downtown traffic signals and is planning to add future turning lanes.

Council approved the low tender for the work at its Oct. 3 meeting.

The work includes new LED traffic and pedestrian signals at the Huron and Sanders streets intersections as well as the Victoria Street pedestrian crosswalk across Main Street. Turning lane improvements are also planned for the Huron and Sanders intersections.

Turning lane improvements will be done at the Sanders intersection first, chief administrative officer Roy Hardy told council, as the turning lane work at the Huron intersection will have to wait until Huron can be widened during future construction.

As part of the work, four streetlights will be replaced with new LED heads and poles, roads superintendent Ken Bettles' report states.

The low tender submitted by Lavis Contracting is for $232,342.25, although that includes $66,557.50 for contingencies and provisionals. Bettles' report states it is expected the project will cost $165,784.75.

As previously reported, the municipality has received a connecting link grant from the Ministry of Transportation for 90 per cent of the cost, to a maximum of $144,000.

Council agreed to a staff recommendation of adding an audible pedestrian signal at the Sanders Street intersection for $8,380.

Bettles states in his report, “The reason for inclusion at this intersection is because of the high traffic and staff believe that there are visually impaired residents who would benefit in this area.

South Huron will seek additional funding from the MTO for the project, but should there be no additional funding available, the municipality's total share of the project would be about $40,000.

Coun. Wayne DeLuca described the project as “a fantastic procedure,” saying the improvements will help the flow of downtown traffic. He also agreed that audible signals for the visually impaired are a good idea.

“I think it's a great move,” DeLuca said.

Coun. Dennis Hockey agreed with DeLuca and added the LED signals will be efficient and require less maintenance.

During the councillors' comments portion of the meeting, Hockey revisited an item he brought up at a previous meeting — that is, questions he has been receiving from the public about the municipality's emergency plan in light of the August tornado in Goderich. Hockey said the public has questions about emergency planning and it's a good idea to have them involved.

Hardy responded that the municipality usually has an emergency planning exercise once a year and he can prepare a report on the issue. He said he would also consult with fire chief John Morgan, who is the municipality's contact for emergency services.

The matter will be discussed further at a future committee of the whole meeting.