Township of Wellesley restricts parking on Queen’s Bush Road, reduces speed to 60 km/hr on Hessen Strasse

Galen Simmons, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Wellesley council has approved changes to the township’s traffic and parking bylaw that prohibits street parking along a section of the north side of Queen’s Bush Road and reduces the speed limit to 60 km/hr along a short portion of Hessen Strasse.

Those bylaw changes, along with a new provision prohibiting trailers from being parked on township roads without being affixed to their tow vehicle, were approved by council at its Oct. 18 meeting. Speaking to those changes, director of public works Chris Cook told councillors the new no-parking zone along the north side of Queen’s Bush Road from the driveway of 1149 Queen’s Bush Rd. to Molesworth Street is intended to improve sightlines for drivers coming from or onto Molesworth Street.

“There’s been a lot of discussion on this one since the road was reconstructed,” Cook said. “The road width – the asphalt width – is exactly the same as what it was prior; now, there’s a definitive curb line where there wasn’t one before. Cars used to park over four or five feet onto the boulevard; now, they don’t have that option anymore, so it blocks the sightline to Molesworth Street.”

Cook also told council township staff have reviewed the intersection at Hessen Strasse and Moser-Young Road after concerns were raised by residents following a recent collision at this intersection. Based on the density of driveways both personal and for business near this intersection and coupled with the houses being set very close to the road as compared to most other rural intersections, Cook said a speed reduction from 80 km/hr to 60 km/hr is warranted, similar to other areas in the township like Powell Road and on Hessen Strasse near Maplewood Road.

The final change to the bylaw approved at the Oct. 28 meeting, Cook explained, is intended to prevent trailers from being parked on township roadways all day, every day, or for long periods time. According to Cook’s report to council, the bylaw previously allowed trailers less than 10 metres in length to be parked on township roadways, primarily so landscape and construction trailers could be parked on the road during the day to facilitate work at local residences.

“There are several areas in the township where we are seeing trailers being parked overnight for lengthy periods of time. They’re not abandoned; they are owned by somebody, but they’re on the roads,” Cook said. “We’re just requiring them now to be affixed to their tow vehicle when they’re parked on the road. There’s insurance implications, there’s other things like that which come into play.”