Wilmot approves traffic bylaw updates, defers McFadyen Street parking changes

By Galen Simmons

Wilmot council approved two of three proposed amendments to the township’s traffic and parking bylaw at its March 23 meeting, while deferring a decision on parking restrictions along a curve on McFadyen Street in Baden after hearing concerns from area residents.

The approved amendments include the installation of an all-way stop at the intersection of Puddicombe Road and Bridge Street, as well as a heavy-truck prohibition on Witmer Road from Sandhills Road to a point 1,600 metres east of Sandhills Road. According to a staff report prepared by the township’s infrastructure services department, the proposed changes aim to improve road safety, enhance traffic flow and align municipal regulations with provincial standards such as the Ontario Traffic Manual and Highway Traffic Act.

“At the (March 2) committee of the whole (meeting), the traffic and parking bylaw was presented,” Wilmot director of infrastructure services Ken VanderWal told counillors March 23. “At this meeting, council noted a discrepancy regarding the McFadyen no parking. As such, the bylaw was revised, removing McFadyen Street to allow for prompt attention to Bridge and Puddicombe, and the other changes within the bylaw.

“Staff have provided an update on the request for McFadyen Street, and as such, we are looking to pass a bylaw … excluding McFadyen. The changes for McFadyen can be brought back to council in 2026 at your timeframe, or they can be included in the 2027 revisions to the traffic and parking bylaw.”

Staff had recommended adding no-parking restrictions on both sides of McFadyen Street between approximately 66 and 109 metres south of Wagler Avenue to address sightline concerns along a curved section of the roadway.

The report notes the curve has an approximate nine-metre radius and limited visibility for vehicles exiting driveways when cars are parked along both sides of the road, narrowing the roadway by nearly 50 per cent and potentially creating challenges for emergency vehicles navigating the turn.

Staff indicated the recommendation was consistent with guidelines in the Transportation Association of Canada’s geometric design standards, which note parking restrictions are sometimes required on curved roadways to maintain adequate sightlines and ensure safe vehicle turning movements.

Council ultimately chose not to proceed with the proposed no-parking amendment for McFadyen Street after hearing from residents of the neighbourhood who expressed concerns that removing on-street parking could encourage drivers to travel faster along the street.

Residents described McFadyen Street as being used as a through route, with vehicles in some cases travelling at higher speeds around the curve, creating safety concerns for pedestrians and increasing the risk of collisions with parked vehicles.

“Many drivers using our street will travel too fast and cut the corner across the street from my house, well over on the other side of the road in the opposing traffic lane,” said Dave Emrich, a longtime resident of McFadyen Street and one of three delegates from the neighbourhood who spoke at council’s March 23 meeting. “This happens frequently, and during the summer, it is common to hear wheels squealing as traffic goes around the corner. The drivers then resume speeding up again after the corner in both directions.

“This is a major safety concern as there are … families with children on the street. … In November of 2022, my car, which was parked in front of my neighbour’s house at 31 McFadyen St., was written off due to a collision with a car travelling too fast around the corner. … There were no other cars parked on the road impeding traffic at that time.”

Emrich and the other neighbourhood residents who spoke before council – Nick Demelo and Penny Collins – urged the township to research the history of collisions in the neighbourhood and analyze traffic-speed data before coming back with a solution that wouldn’t encourage more speeding – something they said the previously proposed no-parking restrictions would do as drivers would no longer have to contend with parked cars on either side of the road.

“I respect staff’s point of view of saying there could be potentially sightline issues, but peeling it back and looking, I see that the real concern is speed,” Coun. Harvir Sidhu said. “One of the unintended consequences of having no parking there and not doing anything else is potentially increasing that speed because if there’s no vehicles on the road, they can hammer down from Stuckey (Avenue) and Hunsberger.

“ ... The more I think about this, I think it is the unintended consequences of more speed, and I don’t like the idea of punishing the homeowners there that have already had accidents on their vehicles simply for just parking on the street.”

While CAO Jeff Willmer argued the point of introducing no-parking restrictions along McFadyen was to ensure emergency vehicles could safely travel through the neighbourhood, and VanderWal said township staff had collected speed data, which showed speeding was not a concern on the street, they admitted they hadn’t actually consulted with emergency services or neighbourhood residents for their input on the bylaw amendment and had only reviewed the area through a technical lens based on requirements in the Highway Traffic Act.

The McFadyen Street proposal was originally identified by way of a public complaint through the township’s traffic-calming process, which allows residents to request reviews of roadway conditions related to speed, visibility and safety concerns.

“We did not receive the complaint directly from emergency vehicles,” Coun. Kris Wilkinson said. “ … I did chat with a couple residents who reached out … and they shared there had been opportunities where those vehicles were able to pass. I would even go further back to what our delegator was talking about. Ms. Collins suggested that if we look at the narrowing (of the road on the curve due to snowbanks in the winter), I can think of probably multiple bends in multiple neighbourhoods across that township that probably need to have this potential (no-parking) remedy applied to it (if we were to approve it here).

“With all of that said, I think what we learned here tonight, at least from the delegates and the conversations that have happened, is that this is, in essence, a speeding problem and the … residents in this neighbourhood want a stop sign to dissuade people from using the road to exit the neighbourhood. If you look at the layout, it makes sense that folks in the northwest of that neighbourhood jump onto Hunsberger into McFadyen – it’s a straight line.”

Wilkinson pointed to stop signs installed at Hunsberger Drive, Stuckey Avenue and Michael Myers Road just up the street that had a traffic-calming effect for vehicles travelling through that part of the neighbourhood, and suggested a similar result could be achieved with a three-way stop at Hunsberger and Wagler.

Instead of implementing the parking restrictions, council directed staff to consult with affected residents as well as emergency services to determine whether fire trucks and other emergency vehicles are able to safely navigate the curve when vehicles are parked on both sides of the street.

Council also asked staff to explore the potential installation of a three-way stop at the intersection of Wagler Avenue and Hunsberger Drive as a possible traffic-calming measure intended to discourage drivers from using the street as a shortcut through the neighbourhood.

Staff will report back to council at a future meeting with additional information related to parking, sightlines and potential traffic-calming options before any further amendments to the township’s traffic and parking bylaw are considered.