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economist sunsuntribune transportation saturday march 20 2004 msiior accident locations in york region hwy 7 and weston road hwy 7 and jane street hwy 7 and islington avenue hwy 7 and keele street yonge and wellington streets bathurst street and clark avenue yonge street and carrville road woodbine avenue and john street kennedy road denison street ravenshoe road and woodbine avenue a clark ave wellington st i t carrville rd bloomlngton rd stouffville 16th wy- 7 steelesave rd ave aurora rd john st m ajor mackei zle dr 14th ave denison st yhng graphic source region of york river list of worst intersections shows traffic analysts ways to cut down on collisions by roger varley staff writer york region identified hwy 7 and weston road as the most dangerous intersec tion in the region in november 2001 just2l2 years earlier the crossroad didnt even make the top 10 list the reason for the change was the way in which the regions trans portation and works department analysed its data zorin postic a traffic safety supervisor says a new list will be issued this spring that could radi cally alter the top 10 list again because of a continuing evolution in the way data is analysed prior to 2001 intersections were rated simply on the rate of colli sions using that criterion the top 10 worst intersections in the region were hwy 7 and pine valley drive vaughan hwy 7 and woodbine avenue markham yonge street and wellington street aurora yonge street and eagle street newmarket hwy 7 and kennedy road markham yonge street and carrville road richmond hill yonge street and clark avenue thornhill yonge street and mulock drive newmarket yonge street and major mackenzie drive richmond hill and major mackenzie drive and leslie street richmond hill mr postic said that list did not take into account other factors such as traffic volume and the severity of collisions including the amount of property damage or whether there were injuries or fatalities the fact an intersection has lots of fender benders doesnt make it more dangerous than another that has fewer collisions but more fatal ities he said using the new data analysis hwy 7 and weston road moved to the top of the list the transportation and works department showed the intersec tion had a potential for operational improvement factor of 33 simply put that meant the intersection had 33 more collisions a year than should be expected believe it or not they are expected mr postic said the november 2001 list which included only two of the intersec tions listed earlier showed the intersections motorists should approach with caution were hwy 7 and weston road vaughan hwy 7 and jane street vaughan hwy 7 and islington avenue vaughan hwy 7 and keele street vaughan yonge street and wellington street aurora bathurst street and clark avenue thornhill yonge street and carrville road richmond hill woodbine avenue and john street markham kennedy road and denison street markham and ravenshoe road and woodbine avenue georgina last year there were more fatalities than homicides in york region we wouldnt tolerate that number of homicides so when it comes to fatalities why do we accept that mr postic said the list is used to prioritize where resources should be used whether in terms of traffic enforcement or physical changes to intersections improvements to intersections could be any combination of addi tional or improved signage pave ment markings resurfacing changes to the timing of signal lights or parking and turning restrictions if such measures are not ade quate physical modifications are considered such as additional left turn lanes the list is also used by york regional police to target areas for greater surveillance and enforce ment but sgt tom carrique of the traf fic management unit said although the intersections have potential for a large number of collisions it does nt necessarily make them more dangerous in terms of the severity of accidents my experience is the more vol ume you have the more collisions sgt carrique said normally the more severe the accident the more speed was involved so if you have an intersec tion where the speed limit is higher and the traffic volume is lower the potential is greater for a serious col lision which is why mr postic is not just concerned with major intersec tions unrolling wide aerial photos of york region roads across a table in his office he showed how all intersections are marked to show traffic analysts the number of colli sions at each one the data also shows the direc tion of traffic the severity of the col lision whether private vehicles or trucks were involved and numer ous other pieces of information the photos help analysts deter mine what physical factors might be contributing to the collisions pointing to the aerial photo graph of warden road and aurora road he showed there have been numerous accidents over the past five years part of the reason he indicated was poor sightlines at the intersection a straight section of the road was analysed because there have been several winter accidents mr postic pointed out the trees on the south side of the road were blocking the sun from melting snow on the pavement that information could be used to order more salt or sand on that section of road he said changes made several years ago to the intersection of ravenshoe road and woodbine avenue resulted in more collisions traffic analysts determined by widening woodbine at the intersec tion motorists were taking advan tage and increasing their speeds the intersection has since been revamped with designated left turn lanes we learn more from our mis takes than our successes mr postic said we dont export our mistakes to other intersections i really believe were making a difference so which intersections does mr postic try to avoid i dont avoid any roads i try to avoid people he said i dont trust other drivers last year there were more fatal ities than homicides in york region he added we wouldnt tolerate that num ber of homicides so when it comes to fatalities why do we accept that its the people that make the difference jay wilson funeral director jay is our newest staff member at chapel ridge having trained and worked at two of torontos finest funeral firms turner porter and humphrey funeral homes jay is a graduate of the university of toronto and also did a certificate in human resources management prior to entering funeral service jay has done volunteer work with the disabled over the years we are proud to have him as part of the chapel ridge family chapel ridge funeral home 9053058508 family owned by eric and susanne tappenden 8911 woodbine avenue 3 blocks north of hwy 7 markham ontario l3r 5g1 infochapelridgefhcom wwwchapelridgefhcom a car ng part 0 f our com m unity i i t 44ji