Plympton-Wyoming officials are calling for improved safety measures at the busy Confederation Line and Broadway Street intersection.
They've written a letter to the County of Lambton, asking that a traffic study be done at the crossing located at the edge of the town.
County council previously voted against installing traffic lights at the intersection, near Holy Rosary Catholic School, and the town wants them to reconsider that position.
Mayor Gary Atkinson said there have been a number of crashes and close calls in that spot, which only has stop signs along Confederation Line.
"We think some safety measures are warranted because we see the near-misses that happen here all the time," said Atkinson. "We looked at some of the parking along Oil Heritage Road, to the south of that intersection, where it's used to drop off kids going to kindergarten and things like that. We looked at that and whether there are other parking facilities that they could use to eliminate that issue."
Atkinson said the previous town council voted against installing a flashing crosswalk.
"That's why we have a crossing guard to the street south of that intersection, which is Huron Street," he said. "We hope that somehow we can eliminate having that person there, but we still want to have a safe crossing for the kids to go across as well."
The crossing guard is a member of the town's Public Works staff because efforts to hire a part-time crossing guard in 2018 were unsuccessful.
The town estimates the cost of that position at over $16,000 per year, and almost double that when you consider the lost productivity that occurs by having public works staff leave other tasks to carry out crossing guard duties.
Atkinson said if the county doesn't want to install traffic lights, they should explore an automated pedestrian crossing system, similar to the traffic lights on Broadway Street at Niagara Street, or pedestrian lights similar to those on Confederation Line near London Street.
They also want the speed limit reduced to 40 kilometres per hour on Broadway Street, between Erie and Jane Streets, and to designate that portion of the roadway as a school zone.
Atkinson hopes to hear back from the county sooner than later.
