New stop signs up near St. Mary's Gardens

Getting used to a new thing can take some time.

Take for instance the new three-way stop erected Thursday morning at the Pine North-Fifth Avenue intersection, right near St. Mary’s Gardens.

Timmins Police held a brief news conference Thursday morning to bring awareness to the issue and in a span of five minutes, onlookers counted at least four motorists blowing through the new signs.

It reiterates the need to further spread the message about the intersection, which has been a hot topic of discussion at Timmins city council for around a year.

City council approved the signs as a temporary option after lobbying efforts by officials at Autumnwood St. Mary’s Gardens and the Municipal Accessibility Advisory Committee.

A pedestrian crossover is to be installed in 2018.

Timmins Police’s Kate Cantin says if you’re exiting from the St. Mary’s property, you still have to yield to traffic.

“In the Highway Traffic Act, it does stipulate that drivers have to yield to traffic from a private drive,” she said.

She adds pedestrians need to be extra aware when crossing the road.

“Because it is a new stop sign, we wanted to make sure that pedestrians stop before crossing,” Cantin said.

“Make sure that it’s clear to cross because drivers are still getting used to the fact that these stop signs are here so just to advise pedestrians to make eye contact with the driver, make sure the driver sees you and make sure the driver is coming to a complete stop before crossing.”