CENTRAL MANITOULIN—It has been a long and sometimes frustrating road, but Central Manitoulin council received a welcome Christmas present in the form of an email from the Ministry of Transportation this week. Council has long sought a four-way stop sign at the intersection of Highway 551 and Highway 542 (King Street) in the town of Mindemoya, and the email confirmed the ministry has approved the change.
“It has been on council’s agenda for years,” confirmed Central Manitoulin Mayor Richard Stephens. “It has been a long, long time, two or three different terms of council.”
Mayor Stephens suggested that the change of heart by the MTO may have been influenced by an accident that occurred at the intersection a couple of years ago. “That might have been the turning point,” he said. But the mayor went on to add the caveat that there were signs in place when that accident occurred and it remains to be seen whether the four-way stop intersection will be effective in preventing future collisions. “It’s a case of ‘wait and see’,” he said.
The intersection has been the subject of several studies by the MTO over the years, but the result had always been that the four-way stop was not warranted.
Mayor Stephens noted that there had been considerable turnover in the ministry in recent months. “There’s been quite a change of people,” he said. “Sometimes, fresh eyes can make all the difference.”
Mayor Stephens indicated that the new four-way stop at the intersection is expected to be installed in the spring.
The mayor suggested that, if it had been up to the municipal council to make the decision, the four-way stop would have been in place many years ago. “When a number of government levels are involved, it can sometimes take a long time,” said Mayor Stephens. “But it often helps to have that collaboration. Kind of like the House of Commons and the Senate, it helps to have a sober second thought.”
Mayor Stephens said that he was pleased to see that the MTO had finally decided to approve the four-way stop.
