Pedestrians can cross safely. A traffic light seen here on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, has been installed at the corner of Lakeshore Rd. and Hampton Cr. (Photo: Kelly Roche/QEW South Post)
A traffic light seen here on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, has been installed at the corner of Lakeshore Rd. and Hampton Cr. (Photo: Kelly Roche/QEW South Post)
Pedestrians can cross safely. A traffic light seen here on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, has been installed at the corner of Lakeshore Rd. and Hampton Cr. (Photo: Kelly Roche/QEW South Post)
Pedestrians can cross safely. A traffic light seen here on Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, has been installed at the corner of Lakeshore Rd. and Hampton Cr. (Photo: Kelly Roche/QEW South Post)
BY KELLY ROCHE
No more dodging cars or risking a crash just to get into the McDonald’s plaza — there’s a new crosswalk in Lakeview.
A traffic light began operating Thursday at the corner of Hampton Cr. and Lakeshore Rd. E., near Shoppers Drug Mart.
“It’s now fully functional, which is awesome,” said Ward 1 Coun. Jim Tovey.
The installation, which took a few days, comes three months after pedestrian Tim Syrowy, 56, was killed after he was struck by a car at the same intersection.
Port Credit resident Quinn O’Connor said he crosses Lakeshore almost every day and was happy to see the new lights.
“There’s a pretty big distance from that light to that light,” O’Connor said, motioning toward the Metro plaza at Shaw Dr., then Cawthra Rd.
“It’s pretty nice. You don’t have to jaywalk or anything.”
Crossing north-south typically takes awhile, “but it depends on what time of day,” he said.
Another resident, Lucy, agreed.
“We like the lights,” she said while crossing the road with her husband.
“The cars was going too fast. We need the lights.”
The busy 800-metre Lakeshore stretch between Shaw. Dr. and Cawthra Rd. has been vexing pedestrians and drivers for years, since there was no safe crossing.
“People have been jaywalking there forever,” said Tovey.
“But we now have a lot more traffic than we used to, and so it’s something that we needed to do.”
Then there’s distracted driving.
But Ralph said he isn’t buying into a false sense of security from the crossing, “cause people go through the lights when it’s red,” he said.
“They’re all in a hurry. All they care about is going from A to B. That’s it. I give it two weeks before there’s an accident here.”
Thirteen pedestrians were killed in Peel in 2015.
Another light is expected to be installed at Lakeshore and Beechwood Ave., between Enola Ave. and Hampton, before Christmas, Tovey said.
Port Credit residents will likely see a traffic light at Benson Ave., just west of the Loblaws plaza, in 2018.
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