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stouffville suntribune thursday july 7 2005 5 westend residents getting help with ridiculous traffic by hannelore volpe staff writer the first step in slowing vehicles that cut through westend residential streets to avoid main street traffic got the approval of whitchurchstouffville council several residents armed with an 85signature peti tion at a june 26 meeting convinced council to con sider traffic calming meas ures to steer vehicles away from their neighbourhood pat oleary has seen traffic go from heavy to absolutely ridiculous during the 12 years hes lived in the area about 400 vehicles come through each hour during peak times with about 100 an hour on average mr oleary said mr oleary said he stands at the end of his driveway like a goal- tender whenever his two small children are outside playing residents anticipate even more vehicles slicing through their neighbour hood bordered by sandale road main street elm road and ninth line once construction to widen main street begins traffic calming meas ures be they speed bumps or lane restrictions would be removed once three col lector roads are completed in the area councillor susanne hilton said pat oleary has seen traffic go from heavy to absolutely ridiculous during the 12 years hes lived in the area about 400 vehicles come through each hour during peak times with about 100 ah hour on average i io- the collector roads include a widened main street from ninth line to hwy 48 which should begin next summer and the extension of millard street and hoover park drive in the south end of stouffville out to hwy 48 council will take com ments from the public for the next 25 days before deciding aug 23 if the traf fic calming measures should be put in place if the project is approved the susanne hilton speed bumps or lane restrictions could help calm traffic measures could be in place by september traffic could be discour aged from coming into the residential areas by full clo sures on glad park avenue north of elm road and on fairview avenue just north of the business area on main street there may also be an eastbound lane obstruc tion on rupert avenue at winona drive andanother at the north end of fairview avenue just south of elm road i dont see how we can reroute through traffic without inconveniencing local residents mrs hilton said but it is an inconvenience i am willing to take because it is for a short time councillor phil bannon noted there wasnt a clear consensus on what needs to be done however doing nothing is not an option local resi dent jill mcwhinnie said paul whitehouse the director of public works had presented residents with several possible see- narios for reducing cut- through traffic according to surveys of residents in the area about onethird were in favour of speed humps another third wanted lane obstruc tions and the remainder didnt want either the safety of pedestri ans and the quality of life for neighbours outweighs the inconveniences caused by taking five minutes more to where you have to go mrs hilton said the three collector roads likely wont be com pleted for four or five years and it is a long time for rupert street residents to live with high traffic vol ume and speed resident martha robertson said install whatever num ber of speed humps are required to slow or detour traffic from our neighbour hood resident mike mclean added ammo police found an arsenal of weapons and ammunition inside an eastend stouffville home while executing a search warrant canada day emergency response unit offi cers descended on the geoffrey crescent home friday morning after concluding the homeowner might be in possession of weapons the investigation began when the man was arrested during a traf fic stop the night before at main street and the ninth line two 18- yearold passengers from durham region were arrested on unrelated probation offences the 29yearold man is under a court order not to have any weapons following a 2003 convic tion on weapons charges in durham region police said once inside officers found a rifle a large amount of ammuni tion for rifles handguns and shot guns firearm accessories includ ing holsters and rifle scopes a switchblade knife hunting bow and throwing stars drug paraphernalia was also dis covered including syringes rolling papers scales and what is believed to be the leftover butts of marijuana joints a police dog was used during the search a man faces a number of weapons and breach of probation charges it is standard procedure for police to bring in emergency response officers in cases involving a quantity of weapons a police spokesperson said martin derbyshire mm h