London councillor dons black to highlight danger of busy road

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It’s not often a London city councillor chooses a wardrobe to match the message they plan to deliver at a council meeting.

But that is what Ward 1 Coun. Hadleigh McAlister did Tuesday, when he made an impassioned plea to improve the safety of a deadly stretch of Hamilton Road.

“I am sounding the alarm on this road, because if we don’t put a plan in the future now, we’re going to see more tragedies occur along this corridor,” said McAlister, who was wearing a black suit jacket, black tie, black pants and a grey vest.

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He proposed to have city staff study redesigning Hamilton Road between Adelaide Street and Highbury Avenue, and to come back with a financial pitch for the 2028-31 city budget cycle.

“I’m actually wearing black out of respect for those who have been injured or died in the traffic collisions along Hamilton Road … it is hard not to take any loss of life personally,” he said. “I get frequent complaints … (that) say that on-street parking … make Hamilton Road ‘a wild ride’, and ‘a white knuckle racetrack’.”

London police have identified Hamilton as a uniquely challenging road, he said, and city council should approve a redesign of the street as the city’s population booms.

Several pedestrians and cyclists have died or been injured in crashes on Hamilton Road in recent years, including a cyclist in June.

McAlister highlighted several short-term measures the city has taken, such as better lighting and road markings, and increased police enforcement.

The Hamilton Road BIA lent its support to his proposed study in a letter sent to city council’s city works committee meeting on Aug. 12.

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But McAlister’s pitch, which included a suggestion to look at a three-lane layout with wider sidewalks and bike lanes on the busy east-west road, failed in a 10-5 vote.

McAlister, and councillors David Ferreira, Anna Hopkins, Sam Trosow, and Skylar Franke voted in support while all others voted against.

Colleagues applauded McAlister for his passion and advocacy, but argued that the area has already had or will have several projects and initiatives to improve safety.

“At the end of the day, Hamilton is an arterial road, it is a road meant to carry high volumes of traffic efficiently,” deputy mayor Shawn Lewis said.

“We just finished redoing the majority of the road identified in this motion … Hamilton Road has had its turn in this stretch of road, and we must move on to other projects,” he said, pointing to an upcoming project to revamp the intersection of Hamilton and Highbury.

The study would have taken place under the master mobility plan, a roadmap of the city’s transportation projects to 2050, with a goal of having a third of trips taken by bus, bike, or walking.

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That was part of the issue for some councillors, who argued that several roads have gone without repair or upgrade for years, and that similar arguments could be made for roads in their ward.

“We create hostilities in our own decision making … as we parse out different segments of roadways,” Coun. Corrine Rahman said. “I received emails from residents asking me now to do the exact same thing.”

Mayor Josh Morgan conceded he would likely do the same thing if he were in McAlister’s shoes, but said that staff should make the ultimate decision on which projects should be prioritized through the master plan.

“I sit with a different hat now, and I tend to think about the larger picture,” he said. “Staff indicated that there would be corridor studies that are done as part of the (plan) … it was suggested although nothing is finalized or determined, that this was one that would certainly be considered for one.

“It may come that if this motion doesn’t pass, exactly what the councillor is asking for comes to fruition through the master mobility plan … I just can’t vote today to get ahead of that process, because I’m not sure where all of the highest priorities are in the city,” Morgan said.

The first large scale components of the mobility master plan, such as road projects, are expected to be unveiled in the fall.

jmoulton@postmedia.com

@jackmoulton65

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