Lambton County councillors say its time to consider a roundabout at the corner of Petrolia Line and Kimball Road.
Joleen DeGurse MacDonald started a petition for the county rebuild the intersection after a gravel truck collided with an SUV in early May killing the transport driver. DeGurse MacDonald’s family has lived at the intersection for generations and she wrote a passionate letter explaining how many people had died and how it had impacted the people who witnessed the crashes.
St. Clair Township championed the idea. Mayor Steve Arnold says a round about is the only way to avoid T-bone accidents like the one in May.
Some councillors wanted to allow staff to look at other options, but Arnold says short of a traffic light at the corner, a roundabout is the only solution.
Arnold admits there are some people who have voiced concern that heavy loads moving to and from the Chemical Valley might not be able to get through the traffic circle.
“There could be temporary barriers there that could be removed at the time. Anything can be engineered,” he says
“If we could move forward on this one look at the design and hopefully we can have the safety issue rectified.”
County staff will include the costs of the roundabout in the 2021, for councillors to decide if it should move ahead.
