Someone is going to get hurt if something isn’t done to slow down traffic on Port Robinson Road in Fonthill, residents in the area say.
In fact, one woman narrowly escaped being hit by a speeding car while walking her dog, one of them said.
“She was walking across the road at Lametti (Drive),” said Tia Taylor. “All of a sudden, this car comes screaming down the street and nearly hit her. She had to jump.”
With many older adults living in the area, she is worried that someone may get seriously hurt or killed if something doesn’t change.
“You have to wonder what it’s going to take to get someone to sit down and listen,” she said.
The stretch of road in question is Port Robinson between Station Street and Rice Road. Drivers, the residents say, routinely drive faster than the posted 50 km/h speed limit.
With increased development, what was once a quiet stretch of road has over the years become a busy thoroughfare.
“Traffic is unruly,” Taylor said.
Cory Groenewegen, who had lived in the area for the past year and a half, agreed.
“There is a lot of speeding,” he said. “Drivers are doing 80 or 90.”
Craig Edwards can only listen to his neighbours and feel frustrated. The residents have been involved in a back-and-forth with the Town of Pelham for nearly two years, wanting traffic-calming measures put into place to slow drivers down. (In 2021, Edwards raised similar concerns, as reported by the Voice of Pelham.)
And, he said, Port Robinson is not designed to handle increased traffic volume.
“As our community grows, more vehicles will utilize Port Robinson Road on a daily basis,” he said, adding that many drivers have taken to using Port Robinson as a bypass to get around congestion on Hwy. 20.
He said growth is to be expected but the Town needs to remember the taxpayers who are already living here.
“There is great angst in what we are all going through here,” he said.
Stephanie Poitras said more needs to be done to slow people down and said that maybe the Niagara Police should be involved.
“It might be helpful to have a little more police presence,” she said.
Edwards, meanwhile, said he has spoken with Jason Marr, the Town’s Director of Public Works, the department responsible for the municipality’s roads.
“The reality is we keep hearing the same thing,” Edwards said.
When contacted by PelhamToday, Marr acknowledged the residents’ concerns have been ongoing, but said current traffic calming measures that were recommended after a traffic study last year – narrowing lanes for cars and adding bike lanes the bollards and a speed display sign – have helped the situation.
“The 85th percentile, the speed at which 85 per cent of drivers travel was 65 km/h on that stretch of Port Robinson Road,” he said. “I’ve pulled the information from the last 30 days and of the 30,000 vehicles that have used the road, only 347 were travelling over 65 km/h.”
As for the stats for the 85th percentile, the speed had dropped from 65 km/h to 55, he said.
Despite that, Marr said that doesn’t mean more traffic-calming is not on the horizon. A motion is being put forward by Ward 3 Councillor Brian Eckhardt, who represents the area, at council’s July 10 meeting. The motion will be asking for a staff report on the idea of installing a three-way stop at Port Robinson and Klager Avenue.
The intersection was one of two being looked at for all-way stops in the 2023 study. It was determined in the study that traffic volume was not high enough to warrant stops at either.
Marr also said that Station Street is scheduled for reconstruction, something he said will happen in 2026 or 2027.
“Part of the project is a raised tabletop intersection,” Marr said. Think of it like a giant speed hump.”
But for the residents, the time is now. With more development coming on stream in the area, they say things are only going to get worse.
“Our realtor told us this was a busy street,” said Poitras, who moved to the area five years ago from the GTA with her husband, Reg. “It was nothing like this. This is like living next to the 401.”
