Medians installed on Elmira’s Church Street West, part of a Region of Waterloo reconstruction project, are to be re-evaluated this year. The lane dividers have proven to be a traffic hazard, drawing many complaints from residents.
![The medians installed during the reconstruction of Church Street West in Elmira have been problematic from the start, causing traffic and safety concerns, especially with horse-drawn buggies and large farm vehicles.[Scott Barber / The Observer]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/post_news_medians.jpg)
Appearing at Woolwich council to discuss upcoming roads projects, Rob Gallivan, the region’s manager of transportation program development, found himself pressed for answers about the medians.
Coun. Mark Bauman stressed that the dividers have proven to be problematic for large farm vehicles, trucks and buggy traffic, all the while posing a potential bottleneck for emergency vehicles.
“People don’t understand why they’re there,” said Coun. Pat Merlihan of the medians. “It is a real problem for our residents. I hope a solution is forthcoming.”
Gallivan said the situation was to be investigated this year, when final touches to the project, including landscaping, are to be completed.
“I don’t have a solution today, but we are looking at this.”
The region will be talking with township staff, members of the Mennonite community and Waterloo Regional Police, among others, to get feedback about the medians.
Other paving projects on tap for Woolwich this year include a portion of Weber Street between Benjamin Road and King Street, budgeted at $250,000, as well as King Street from the railroad tracks to Lobsinger Line ($120,000), both south of St. Jacobs. In Elmira, Arthur Street between Whippoorwill Drive and First Street will be paved at a cost of $250,000.
For next year and into 2017, the region has a slate of much larger reconstruction projects lined up for various Woolwich locations. Work is expected to get underway in 2016 on a major, $6-million job on King Street in St. Jacobs, running from Printery Road all the way to Sawmill Road. Another stretch of Sawmill Road, in Bloomingdale from River Street to Snyders Flats Road, will see a $1.5-million reconstruction project. And in Conestogo, a 1.5-kilometre of Sawmill Road will get an overhaul in 2017. That project is pegged at $5 million.
Also in 2017, Shantz Station Road will be reconstructed between Kossuth Road and Menno Street at a cost of $3.5 million.
