Crooked intersection remains 'dangerous,' despite safety upgrades
Speed boards and flashing lights added in 2024 as city studies permanent solution
An intersection in a rural area near Stittsville remains a problematic spot for collisions and near-misses, despite the installation of extra safety measures last year.
The City of Ottawa added speed boards, flashing lights, and repainted road lines on Flewellyn and Shea roads as measures to improve safety at the skewed intersection.
For years, drivers and local councillors have called for significant upgrades to the intersection, especially as suburban housing development sprawls closer to the rural agricultural area.
"It's a dangerous intersection," said Brian Beattie, a retired bus operator who drives through it multiple times a week to volunteer at his church on Flewellyn Road.
"We really need to get that intersection fixed sooner than later."
Eight collisions in 2024
The area where the two main roads meet is offset and often causes confusion for drivers. Both roads have 80 km/h speed limits and only Shea Road has stop signs. According to the city, there were 16 collisions in 2022, no data available for 2023, and eight collisions in 2024.
Beattie said he has experienced and witnessed many near-misses and even stepped in to help at the scene of a collision there last summer.
"I saw this truck sideways, a big delivery truck, and he was stationary. And the other car was up into the shoulder, very, very smashed up."
Beattie said he often sees drivers at Shea Road pull out beyond the stop signs at the intersection and prematurely turn because they can't judge the speed of the cars going down Flewellyn Road.
He has brought his concerns to local city councillors, including flagging how trees and shrubs at the intersection create a sightline barrier.
Local councillor aware of problems
Rideau-Jock Coun. David Brown said his office has received complaints about the intersection since he took office in 2022.
"We've always known that we need to upgrade the intersection. It's getting the funding quick enough to do it," he said.
It's not uncommon for rural areas to have skewed intersections, Brown said.
"As those larger suburban areas continue to encroach on what is traditionally rural infrastructure, we're starting to see that imbalance of heavy traffic volume with relatively light infrastructure that exists in the area."
Brown said he has received fewer calls about the intersection since the improved safety measures were added. He has also requested the clearing of the nearby trees, but says he knows a permanent solution is still required.
"We need to make sure that we actually build [on] the intersection. We need to accommodate the growth of Stittsville."
Functional design study underway
Brown and Stittsville Coun. Glen Gower were successful in getting council to fund a functional design study on the intersection this year.
"We're looking at what type of intersection modification would be required, whether that's a signalized intersection or a roundabout," he said. "Based on that design, the city will have to determine how much additional land that we're going to need. So we might need to purchase some of the the corners of that existing intersection."
Brown says a four-way stop doesn't meet the provincial requirements because the offsets are so large.
He thinks a roundabout is the best option for the section that sees a lot of drivers moving from Richmond, Stittsville and Kanata. A roundabout could adequately deal with the intersection's offset, he said.
"It keeps traffic moving, whereas lights stop traffic," he said. "It sounds a little funny, but roundabouts don't need to be perfectly circular. You can have ones that are a little straighter, more like rectangles."
WATCH | Safety concerns at an Ottawa intersection:
The city is aiming to start construction in 2028, according to Elizabeth Murphy from the city's transportation engineering services.
Brown said the construction of the intersection will be mostly funded through development charges paid by new homeowners in the area.
According to Brown, the northwest corner of the intersection is slated for future housing development.
"We know growth is coming," he said. "We just want to make sure that we build the infrastructure in advance of those homes being completed. And that's the track we're on right now."
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