Council has directed town staff to install pedestrian crosswalks at certain intersections in town when construction on highway 401 is complete.
The pedestrian crosswalks will be at King and George Street, King and Centre Street and King and St. Lawrence Street. The Edward and Irvine Street crosswalk will be installed before the start of the new school year.
Matthew Armstrong is the CAO/Treasurer for the Town of Prescott and in the Council meeting on Monday night he said Ministry of Transportation (MTO) indicated that the construction on 401 is estimated to be complete at the end of September.
The crosswalks will feature flashing lights which, Matthew Armstrong notes, will hopefully improve the issue of near misses especially at the Edward and Irvine Street crosswalk.
Armstrong says they discussed the crosswalks with the MTO and the Ontario Provincial Police. The organizations recommended waiting until the construction was completed so it wouldn’t confuse drivers when new lights are installed.
The Town also notes they invested in pedestrian crosswalk equipment at the end of 2017 but the winter months prevented the installation because more line marking is required. They wanted to begin installation this past spring, but several incidents on the 401 causing heavier traffic in downtown Prescott further prevented installation.