PORT HAWKESBURY: Officials with the Town of Port Hawkesbury discussed their concerns and the concerns of the residents of Granville Street during November’s regular town council meeting on November 6.
After deliberations, the town decided it will conduct a traffic study on Granville Street, and will look at removing the boulders where Granville Street meets Prince Street.
Terry Doyle, the town’s CAO, said officials have noticed a number of issues along the road in regards to a potential traffic study.
“We see an issue with the intersection of Granville Street and Old Sydney Road, that’s been a long standing issue, and also the line of sight coming up Pitt Street,” he said. “If it’s the wish of council – we’d like to do consultation around defining the issues and to engage a traffic engineer to complete a study on how to improve the traffic.”
After the meeting Mayor Brenda Chisholm-Beaton said the town wants to look at ways to reduce the amount of speeding on Granville Street and said the amount of near misses and close calls at and around the bus stops along the street are alarming.
“Because there [are] no stop signs, it’s very easy to use Granville as a throughway to Point Tupper or Highway 4A. And, that’s precisely what’s happening,” she said. “We’ll capture where the conflict points are, and with our citizens come up with reasonable solutions – I assume some of those solutions will be three-way stop signs.”
In addition, councillors also discussed options for ‘Boulder Park,’ the north end of Granville Street, where in the summer boulders were placed at the look-off area, to deter campers who had been using the green-space as a campsite.
The location had been listed as free camp site on-line without permission from town officials and the boulders were used as a temporary fix.
“Becoming aware of a near accident, I think was a little alarming,” Mayor Chisholm-Beaton said. “I have been listening to some of the comments that are coming forward with regard to aesthetics. People do think that the rocks are not a good reflection of where we want to go for the vision of the town, which is fair.”
On top of aesthetics, Chisholm-Beaton said the boulders also create challenges for people with mobility issues who want to access the green space.
“We have to continue to have those conversations to come up what is the best fit,” she said. “We did have one decision that occurred with regard to that particular property and that’s to reinstate the parking area while we determine what is the best way forward.”