It could be six years - or longer - before frustrated drivers in the Orchard Point area get some relief.
On Monday night, as part of a virtual city council committee meeting, a 145-page traffic study, conducted by Tatham Engineering, was presented to city politicians following a request to attempt to justify lights at the busy intersection of Orchard Point Road and Atherley Road/Highway 12.
For at least the third time in recent years, a study determined that, according to Ministry of Transportation (MTO) guidelines, traffic signals are not warranted at the intersection.
Coun. David Campbell felt frustrated by the outcome.
“We can’t wait until somebody is killed at that intersection before we do something about it,” he lamented.
But Ian Sugden, the city’s director of development services, explained to politicians that it’s up to the province - not the city. And the province will only install lights under certain circumstances.
He reminded council that several years ago, the city offered to foot the bill - currently estimated to be $150,000 to $200,000 - to install lights at the intersection but the province would not allow it.
That’s because the MTO has clear rules that determine when and where traffic lights are installed. Cost is not a factor.
“We’ve had a number of concerns over the years with respect to traffic flow particularly coming out of Orchard Point Road and turning left into toward the city,” Sugden noted, adding “driver frustration in that area is related to perceived lengthy wait times waiting for a safe gap in traffic on Highway 12/Atherley Road.”
Experts from Tatham conducted physical traffic counts that were then “extrapolated based on projected growth in the area,” said Sugden.
The MTO relies “solely” on its Ontario Traffic Manual “to determine whether traffic signals are safe and effective at intersections in their control,” explained Sugden.
A specific section in the manual “identifies certain warrant justifications that need to be met when considering signalization ... and provides a standard to analyze the operation of an intersection” based on wait times and level of service.
“The Orchard Point traffic study found that based solely on justifications … traffic signals would not be justified at the intersection for the foreseeable future,” Sugden noted.
The study notes that in 2024, the level of service on Orchard Point Road would fall to Level E (on a range from A to F) and by 2029, would deteriorate to an F, which is unacceptable.
“Given that level of service ...is expected to fall to an unacceptable level in 2029, staff recommend a signal be installed by 2026,” concluded Sugden.
After some discussion and frustration expressed about the delays on that busy stretch of the road - especially during the summer - council accepted the report and voted to “strongly support and recommend to the MTO that traffic signals be installed at the intersection.”
Coun. Pat Hehn said residents are not going to be happy to wait several more years.
“I hear what the report’s saying,” said Hehn, but she said she has often faced long waits trying to get out of store parking lots in that area and has been forced to drive up Highway 12, over the Atherley bridge and turn around on Creighton Street.
“If I was a resident of Orchard Point, I think waiting until 2026 ... I’d be awfully frustrated,” she said.
Orillia Mayor Steve Clarke said the frustration is merited.
“We have pushed and pushed the MTO on this. There's a process to go through and this seems to be it,” he said.
The city paid $9,000 for the study conducted by Tatham Engineering.
The cost of the lights will not directly impact taxpayers. For years, developers in the area have had to pay a portion of their development charges toward the future cost of the lights.
