By Mike Anderson
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will install traffic lights at Highway 48 and Old Homestead Road after a fatal traffic accident occurred at the intersection last month.
“The intersection at Highway 48 and Old Homestead Road meets the warrant for traffic signals and has now been added to the Provincial Highway Improvement program,” York-Simcoe MPP Caroline Mulroney, the former minister of transportation, confirmed in a Facebook post on December 20.
“I have been diligently working with my colleague, [Transportation] Minister Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria, and closely collaborating with Mayor Margaret Quirk to make sure that the residents of Georgina and visitors travelling on Highway 48 receive the upgrades needed to get to their destinations safely in 2025,” she added.
While MTO declined to provide a timeline for the installation, a spokesperson says a solid double yellow line will also be painted on that section of Highway 48, making it a no-passing zone.
As previously reported, MTO, in 2023, promised to paint a solid double yellow line but failed to do so after repainting pavement markings last summer.
Still, MTO has moved quickly to address safety concerns after a traffic accident claimed the life of 88-year-old Pefferlaw resident George Robertson last month — although residents say they have complained about the intersection for years.
Robertson’s car was T-boned by a northbound passenger vehicle on December 6 as he attempted to cross Highway 48 at Old Homestead Road.
While most residents welcomed MPP Mulroney’s announcement, some residents on social media pointed out that traffic lights could cause additional accidents, as speeding northbound vehicles, especially trucks, coming over the hill may not stop in time.
Several residents, including Ward 4 Councillor Dale Genge, would like to see the hill’s height reduced, improving sight lines and allowing northbound vehicles to stop safety at a traffic signal.
Geneviève Benoit, whose car was T-boned at the same intersection last April, leaving her with life-altering injuries, supports traffic lights but would prefer a roundabout.
“It’s a good step forward. But it depends on how much warning the drivers get there’s a traffic light coming,” she said.
“The signalling should be over the hill, so they start slowing down. If they only see it when they get on top of the hill, that may not be enough for them to slow down.”
Benoit believes the car that hit her was passing a northbound truck about to turn right on Old Homestead Road.
“I never saw it. It must have pulled out from behind. So maybe if there was a no-passing zone there, it might have prevented it,” she said.
“I was very fortunate because I survived. But I suffered severe injuries to my right leg.”
Benoit, who moved to Keswick two years ago, says locals repeatedly warned her not to use the intersection to cross Highway 48 because it was considered unsafe.
She believes MTO knew the intersection was dangerous and should have introduced safety upgrades sooner.
“It’s well known that this intersection has been a problem. There’s been loads of accidents there,” Benoit said.
“I don’t know how much the local authorities have done to push for securing the intersection. I can’t speak to that. But MTO would have known about it, and the work should have been done. It would have prevented my accident. It would have prevented that gentleman dying.”
“Obviously, the way it’s made, it’s just not safe.”
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