Immediately after an older driver was injured and another car burst into flames following a collision on Branchton Road last week, residents are renewing calls for traffic calming measures in the area.
Esmerelda Tavares has had enough of unsafe driving conditions in her community around the area known as Littles Corners and is taking a stand to demand action from the Region of Waterloo.
"My main goal is to make that intersection safe," said Tavares. "Last week, there was a huge accident there where the car caught on fire and we lost hydro here in the area."
The Cambridge resident uses that intersection daily and sees how dangerous it can be. She has started a petition on change.org to collect support from her neighbours and other concerned citizens to call on the region to set up a traffic light to help calm traffic.
She adds that drivers coming in from the Hamilton and Rockton area speed toward the city on Highway 8 without slowing down.
"I just want to make that intersection safe. I just want to do it before someone dies at that intersection," she said.
Ward 7 councillor Scott Hamilton has heard concerns from his constituents and has been actively fighting for traffic calming measures at that intersection as well as on Myers Road.
At the recent groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cambridge Recreation Complex nearby, Hamilton told CambridgeToday he's been asking the region for lights in the city's fastest-growing neighbourhood for years.
"They keep telling me that they're looking into it, but I haven't heard anything back," he said at the ceremony.
Hamilton has since connected with the region's transportation staff and they have clarified that addressing this intersection is a "priority installation" for 2025.
In an email to CambridgeToday, Sherry Morley, communications advisor for the region said a traffic light at the busy intersection is on the way.
"As part of its regular signal evaluation process, the Region of Waterloo is working towards adding traffic signals for Highway 8 and Branchton Road," she said.
The region declined to say when this would be implemented, but Tavares hopes that her petition successfully communicates the needs of her community.
She added that with the newly built subdivisions in the area, more foot traffic and drivers will be on the road, and if children have to cross Highway 8 to get to Moffatt Creek Public School, they'll be in danger.
"The kids that are going to school there from the new subdivision, there's really no crosswalk," said Tavares. "I wouldn't even dare to try and cross that."
The motion to improve the intersection was first presented to regional council by Hamilton in 2021 when he asked for a roundabout to be installed within the next five years, due to the projected increase in traffic.
According to Hamilton, the region had to follow Ministry of Transportation (MTO) guidelines and since they started monitoring the intersection, it has now surpassed the threshold required to address the issue.
Three years and hundreds of new residents later, the calls for action are only growing louder in his ward.
"So my goal is now to work with city and regional staff to expedite this process, especially before we see any schools, libraries, or Rec Complexes built," added Hamilton. "No one — at any level of government, any household, or any age — wants to cross 6 lanes of a highway to get to school. It would be a parent’s worst nightmare."
Tavares plans to delegate to regional council and Cambridge city council with her petition during the week of Dec. 2.
"We can't let someone die here before we do something," added Tavares. "I think right now, a set of lights just to get the safety started and if the region decides to put a roundabout then I think that'd be better as well."
