No permanent light for Cumberland and Water

In this January 2017, file photo, a car heads through the intersection at Water Street and Cumberland Street. City council has decided a permanent traffic light will not be installed once construction on Brookdale Avenue is done. (Newswatch Group/Bill Kingston, File)

CORNWALL – There will be no permanent traffic light at the intersection of Cumberland Street and Water Street.

A light has been in place since the reconstruction of Brookdale Avenue but it will be gone once the main thoroughfare is done.

Following a request from Coun. Justin Towndale to look into keeping the light, council decided against it, Tuesday, based on the findings of a public survey and an engineering review.

Coun. Bernadette Clement noted the public online survey was a “useful exercise” that should be considered for other projects in the future.

Of the nearly 200 responses to the survey, 52 per cent opposed the idea of permanent lights at Cumberland and Water.

“We don’t need them once the construction is done,” Coun. Claude McIntosh added. He recounted driving down Water Street recently, suggesting “it’s insane,” the number of red lights drivers encounter on the four-lane street.

Coun. Towndale thanked administration for its fact-finding exercise. In keeping with his views, he voted against the plan to not put traffic lights in place.

An analysis, based on Ministry of Transportation benchmarks, also indicated the signalized intersection was not warranted.

A set of lights would have cost $150,000 plus $5,000 a year to maintain.