Road Safety Decisions In London Ontario Are Rarely Explained And Therefore Rarely Challenged

When residents submit requests to their municipalities for safety improvements to their neighbourhood roadways the decisions are rarely explained leaving residents confused and unsatisfied. A detailed study of those decisions reveals that, although they appear to be based on simple rules, road safety is more complicated than applying a set of general guidelines to this issue. An example of this is the subject of this current Gorski Consulting article.

Background

Recently complaints have been publicized in local news media regarding road safety problems in a number neighbourhoods in London, Ontario. One of those complaints arose in the Old North neighbourhood at the intersection of Wellington and Regent Streets. This older neighbourhood contains many intersections with 4-way stops. Based on information provided by Councillor Sam Trosow it is believed that residents were concerned about the existence of a two-way stop at this intersection where there appeared to be problems of drivers becoming confused and passing through the stop sign. A similar problem appeared to exist at another nearby intersection, Colborne Street and St James Street, where a similar, 2-way stop existed, and similar confusion was detected in a Gorski Consulting study in 2022-23.

As an executive summary of the issue Councillor Trosow reported that City staff refused the residents’ petition. Gorski Consulting was notified of this by Councillor Sam Trosow possibly because he was aware of our work in his ward and also because our extensive experience in road safety and collision reconstruction issues. The City Staff had provided Councillor Trosow with some data pertaining to the traffic volumes at the intersection and the traffic volumes were deemed to be the reason why the petition was denied. A study of the intersection was conducted by Gorski Consulting on August 20, 2025 such that similar traffic volume data was obtained and compared with the City’s data. This comparison will be one of the issues discussed in the latter part of this article.

A view of the general area around Regent and Wellington is shown in the Googlemaps view below.

This view of the intersection of Regent and Wellington Streets shows an unusual characteristic. While the roads are aligned at 90 degree angles, Wellington Street is much wider than the other streets in the neighbourhood because of a boulevard existing in the middle of the road.

A closer view of the intersection is shown below.

The centre boulevard of Wellington Street contains bushes and trees that complicate the visibility of vehicles as they approach the Regent intersection.

Gorski Consulting was retained in 2014 to conduct an assessment of a collision that occurred on Wellington Street north of this intersection and video was available showing the traffic conditions at the Regent intersection at that time. The available video was taken on June 6 and commenced at 0828 hours. it was for 23 minutes and showed a southward view from the windshield of a car parked on the west side of Wellington approximately 85 metres north of the Regent intersection. A frame from this video is shown below.

Although the view of the Regent-Wellington intersection was not ideal, it was possible to see vehicles on both roadways. Some visibility obstruction occurred when attempting to observe vehicles at the south-east quadrant of the intersection due to vegetation located in the boulevard.

Analysis of the video could be completed however it was challenging to see vehicles in the south-east quadrant of the intersection. This difficulty emphasizes the problems westbound and southbound drivers would experience attempting to see each other on approach to the intersection. The video analysis demonstrated the following results: Regent Street contained 37 motor vehicles, 3 cyclists and 7 pedestrians. Wellington Street contained 19 motor vehicles, 2 cyclists and 8 pedestrians. Thus there were twice as many motor vehicles observed on Regent Street than on Wellington Street. Yet the two-way stop signs were positioned to control traffic on Regent, not on Wellington. So eleven years earlier, there was evidence that Wellington Street should have been controlled by a stop sign, but the reverse existed.

The Rules (Guidelines)

Over many decades transportation researchers and practitioners have developed detailed standards for how roadways will be designed, marked, signed and maintained. The rules in every jurisdiction are not exactly the same but most are very similar. With respect to roadway signage, the rules became progressively formulized such that in the early 1930s the United States began publishing the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). Over the years the MUTCD has become the most well-known and followed set of rules in North America. Some states had their own versions of the MUTCD and Canada has similarly varied versions. The Transportation Association of Canada (TAC) developed its own MUTCD and Ontario has a similar document imbedded in its Ontario Traffic Manual.

The installation of traffic signs has its sets of rules (warrants) that are followed by those responsible for roadway signage in their jurisdiction. Some municipalities in Ontario have developed their own policies so there is no guarantee that every jurisdiction will follow the same rules. The Transportation Department in London Ontario does not publicize what rules they rely on. However from communications with the City Staff Councillor Trosow understood that provincial guidelines were adhered to, however he was not able to obtain any information about what those guidelines were.

The Ontario Traffic Manual contains stop sign warrants in its “Book 5: Regulatory Signs”. These rules will be displayed shortly however there is an important content in the Forward of the Manual which is often overlooked, and this is reprinted below:

“Engineering Judgement” is a phrase that exists not only in Ontario’s Traffic Manual but it exists in almost all publications discussing how practitioners should use the guidelines they are given in the field of transportation safety. A reminder often accompanies this phrase that guidelines cannot cover all the complexities of the real world. So when those guidelines are used they must be accompanied by experienced, common sense with an understanding of what the guidelines are attempting to achieve. Given this caveat the following content is taken verbatim from Book 5 with respect to stop sign warrants.

Traffic Data From Site

Councillor Trosow provided Gorski Consulting with traffic data that he was given by the City of London Transportation Department. This data had been provided in supplement to the decision to deny the petition for installation of a stop sign at the intersection of Regent Street and Wellington Street. The data was with respect to traffic counts taken by the City on April 10, 2025. The meaning of the data was not explained and therefore it would be difficult for Councillor Trosow to explain to his residents why the petition was denied. Also the rules (warrants) used by the Transportation Department to decide on the petition denial were also not revealed. It would be difficult to explain to residents why the petition was denied when residents could not examine those warrants.

In light of these developments Gorski Consulting decided to attend the subject site and conduct its own traffic documentations. This was done on Wednesday, August 20, 2025. The time of the documentations was between 1515 and 1730 hours. This time was chosen because the City data indicated that the peak traffic volume occurred between 1630 and 1730 hours. The City also provided break-downs of traffic every 15 minutes between 0700 and 1800 hours. So the Gorski Consulting data could also be broken down into these 15-minute time segments and a comparison could be made with the City data.

There has been a limited analysis of the Gorski video data. Through the first pass of the video only the presence of motor vehicles has been documented. Further work would require that cyclists and pedestrians be documented but this has not been done at this time. Review of the Provincial stop-sign warrants shows that additional video sessions should be made so a total of 4 hours or 8 hours of observations should be completed depending on the requirements of the warrants. At present only 2 hours and 15 minutes of video has been completed.

The table below shows the results of the Gorski Consulting traffic data and the City data for the noted times of 1515 to 1730 hours. Again, the only difference between the two datasets is that the Gorski Consulting data does not include the small number of pedestrians and cyclists that are included in the City data.

For clarification the above data indicates the number of vehicles approaching the intersection. It does not include what actions took place afterward. So it does not show if the vehicles made turns or travelled straight through the intersection. However the following observations can be made.

Overall, the number of vehicles passing through the intersection was slightly higher in the Gorski Data (611) versus the City data (580) and this is even though a small number of cyclists and pedestrians are not included in the Gorski data.

Looking more closely it can be seen that in both datasets the traffic volume was substantially higher on Regent than on Wellington. Yet the stop sign was posted to control traffic on Regent, not on Wellington. The total traffic volume on Regent was 415 vehicles in the Gorski data whereas the total was 414 vehicles in the City data. However the total traffic volume on Wellington was only 196 vehicles in the Gorski data and only 166 in the City data. So clearly, both datasets are in agreement that there is a substantially higher traffic volume on Regent than there is on Wellington. This finding is also supported by the traffic documentation 11 years ago discussed earlier in this article. This is an unusual finding. It does not make sense that the roadway with the higher traffic volume has had a stop sign posted in its direction of travel yet the road with the lower traffic volume is uncontrolled. It is likely that neither Councillor Trosow nor the local residents were made aware of that fact.

This finding confuses the content of the Provincial stop-sign warrants because those warrants assume that the major roadway with the higher traffic volume will be uncontrolled whereas the minor roadway with the lower traffic volume will contain the stop sign. So when the Provincial stop sign warrants discuss the installation of a 4-way stop they assume that Wellington Street in the one with the stop sign and the issue is whether a stop sign should be added on Regent Street. But obviously Regent Street already contains the stop sign. Clearly the City of London Transportation Department needs to explain how they proceeded with their analysis in light of this.

The above data also show how the results can vary from one day to another. With respect to traffic on Regent on April 10, 2025 the City data shows more eastbound vehicles than westbound vehicles (EB = 252, WB = 162). However the opposite is shown in the Gorski data, obtained on August 20, 2025, where there are less eastbound vehicles than westbound vehicles (EB=177, WB=238). So it needs to be recognized that the results will change when data from one day is compared to another. Therefore analysts must not read too much into the results from a single day and conclude this is representative of what exists throughout the year. And when one is focused on the specific criteria shown in the Provincial stop-sign warrants one must be cognizant that the fluctuation of the data could mean that minimums for traffic volume could be met or not met because of that fluctuation.

The City Staff identified that the peak afternoon hour for traffic volume was between 1630 and 1730 hours. In that hour on April 10, 2025 a total 262 vehicles passed through the intersection. No cyclists were observed in that time but there were observations of another 12 pedestrians. In contrast the Gorski data obtained on August 20, 2025 identified 296 motor vehicles although no counts were made of cyclists or pedestrians. The Provincial warrants for installation of 4-way stop indicate that:

As can be seen in the Provincial stop-sign warrants there are additional warrants that could be considered other than minimum traffic volume. For example, if more than 75 units (motor vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians) pass through the minor road on four of the highest-volume hours then a 4-way stop could be considered. If the focus is on Wellington Street, as it should be, then the City’s data indicates that this minimum would be close to being reached.

Another warrant focuses on the number of collisions documented at the intersection. So if 9 collisions have been documented over a period of 36 months a 4-way stop could be considered. In the experience of Gorski Consulting, in this age of poor collision reporting, this warrant could be substantially compromised. However Councillor Trosow could request a collision summary of the intersection keeping in mind that a large number of these collisions would be from the collision-reporting centre where proper details of the incidents would be unavailable.

Other Safety Considerations

The stop-sign petition denial at Regent and Wellington has additional ramifications that could lead to potential civil suits against the City of London. Three safety problems exist as a result of the status quo:

1, An increased crossing time by eastbound and westbound vehicles on Regent,

2. A limited visibility of southbound and northbound vehicles caused by vegetation in the centre boulevard of Wellington, and

3. Driver right-of-way confusion due to the mix of 2-way and 4-way stops in the Old North neighbourhood.

With respect to increased crossing times the width of Wellington Street is about 14.3 metres whereas typical two-way streets may be 7 to 8 metres in width. This additional width of Wellington means that eastbound and westbound vehicles on Regent need more time to cross Wellington than at a typical local intersection. This becomes more problematic at the far end of the intersection where opposing traffic on Wellington could arrive while vehicles on Regent have still not completed their crossing. It becomes more problematic for slower-moving “vehicles” such as cyclists on Regent as their crossing time would be longer than motor vehicles. Such a characteristic is not discussed in the Provincial stop-sign warrants and this requires “engineering judgment” to understand this increased exposure to harm.

With respect to limited visibility, when the crossing time along Regent is longer than normal, it is crucial that sufficient sight distance be available north and south of the intersection with Wellington. With the presence of shrubs and trees in the centre boulevard of Wellington that essential visibility is limited. Therefore it exacerbates the danger posed by the increased crossing time.

With respect to driver confusion about right-of-way, studies by Gorski Consulting at the nearby intersection of Colborne and St James include video examples where a number of drivers stop or slow down even though they have the right-of-way on Colborne and in other instances drivers on St James enter into Colborne after stopping believing that vehicles will stop on Colborne because it is a 4-way stop. Video of the Regent-Wellington intersection taken by Gorski Consulting on August 20, 2025 has shown similar confusion.

The above-noted three facts are easily documented and reported through a typical expert analysis that could be presented to a plaintiff lawyer in a civil suit. This is how civil suits against the City of London become generated. As almost all such suits are negotiated between opposing lawyers, and never reach trial, the details are rarely independently evaluated by a trial judge. Not only do these civil suits create expenses to city taxpayers they also pay the salaries of plaintiff and defense lawyers alike who are happy that disputes are available for their existence.

Summary

The most reasonable solution for the safety of the public is to install a stop-sign on Wellington Street. This would be a minimal cost item. It would cause a minimal disruption to the the current drivers on Regent Street. The smaller number of drivers using Wellington Street would have their travel disrupted by having to formally stop at Regent. However, given the present conditions, many drivers on Wellington are already approaching the intersection with caution and are slowing down, and sometimes stopping, likely because they are aware of the confusion at the intersection. So the additional time required to come a stop should not be a large inconvenience. As noted in the Provincial stop-sign warrants drivers would have to be warned of the new stop sign installation.

It needs to be emphasized that the reasons why traffic safety decisions are made by municipal representatives must be made available to the public who request roadway changes in their neighbourhoods. The data that was collected by a municipality needs to be released and the technical rules/guidelines/standards relied upon by those municipal representatives must also be made available.

A common argument is that the release of such technical information will lead to the public not understanding it. It is our view at Gorski Consulting that such an opinion will not stop nuisance petitions from being submitted. Indeed, by keeping the public in the dark in this manner, nuisance petitions will only be enhanced. Yet what is needed for the benefit of all is the reporting of suspected safety issues by the public because municipal representatives cannot be on top of every safety issue in a larger urban environment. Those reports can be useful and helpful when the public is informed and educated.

As shown in this example on Regent and Wellington “engineering judgment” must be properly applied using common sense and experience that is required beyond the generalities discussed in documents of stop-sign warrants. The intent must be to create the most safe environment for the driving public and this cannot be done by strict focus on what is stated in these documents. This often requires a thorough examination of what unique characteristics exist at the site of dispute.

UPDATE: September 1, 2025, 1820 hours

There is an error in this article in the paragraph discussing traffic volume thresholds. The paragraph is reprinted below:

The wrong data was referenced in the phrase “…Gorski data of 196 motor vehicles…”. That 196 refers just to the traffic volume on Wellington St while the correct reference should have been to the total traffic passing through the intersection and that number was 296 motor vehicles. So for the peak hour the intersection met the traffic volume threshold of 200 vehicles.

A further review has been made of the City data and this shows that there were four hours in which the total traffic volume through the intersection was greater than 200 vehicles. Those four hours were:

0745 to 0845 hours = 228 vehicles

1115 to 1215 hours = 208 vehicles

1530 to 1630 hours = 251 vehicles

1630 to 1730 hours = 274 vehicles

So this indicates that City Staff had data which met the traffic volume warrant for a four-way stop.

Resident Traffic Concerns Continue In London Ontario

Modes of transportation are changing but the public is unaware of how those changes affect their safety.

Concerns about traffic safety have been a key issue in North America for well over 100 years. In that time there have been great strides toward improving public roadways and motor vehicles. Our roadways contain advanced designs that few persons in the public domain are aware of. Signage and roadway markings have been standardized for decades. Vehicles have improved tremendously through numerous federal motor vehicle safety standards. And recent technological improvements have greatly increased collision avoidance. It is rarely understood that, since the mid-1970’s, the numbers of fatalities on public roadways have fallen year after year. That is the good news.

The bad news is that the general public has not kept up with their knowledge of road safety. Very basic facts that ought to be known are, for bazaar reasons, kept from public awareness. This may appear innocuous because no one can see how a lack of knowledge can be life-threatening, but it is. What is a life-threatening incident? And what is something that may appear dangerous but is likely to cause only minor injury? Knowledge of these basic things could change behaviors but that will not happen.

In the vicinity of London Ontario there are many transportation issues that pose safety concerns. But there is no reliable source that can publicly differentiate the really bad things from those less dangerous. Officials in the Province of Ontario do very little to create this awareness. Municipal representatives do little because they themselves do not recognize how to prioritize safety concerns. Local police are more tied up with dangerous criminals and have far less resources, or focus, on programs that prevent accidental injury and death. And official news media are so concerned with the threats of social media that they have shrunk in numbers and influence. All these representatives of our society seem very incapable of providing any useful knowledge to the public about what safety issues are important.

As the CTV News news agency in London Ontario has essentially become the only official news-reporting group in the City, whatever it reports is widely distributed. Recently CTV news has made several reports on citizen concerns about traffic safety.

In an article published on February 28, 2025 CTV news reported on concerns expressed by residents after a collision occurred on the curve of Western Road just north of Oxford Street. Quotes from several persons demonstrated that the collision site was unacceptably unsafe.

In another CTV News article posted on March 24, 2025 residents were quoted again about their safety concerns after a fatal pedestrian collision occurred at the intersection of Bradley Ave and Ernest Ave in the White Oaks area. One resident stated: “It’s ridiculous how many incidents there are, and I really hope something improves, so this area is a lot safer.”

In an article published on July 9, 2025 CTV reported on concerns expressed by residents about safety concerns in the Old North neighbourhood north of the City’s downtown.

A week later, on July 15, 2025, CTV reported once again about citizen complaints with respect to safety at the intersection of Wortley Road and Emery Street in the Old South neighbourhood.

On July 21, 2025 CTV News posted another article about concerns expressed by residents with respect to the intersection of Hyde Park Road and Fitzwilliam Boulevard in south-west London. This was after a fatal collision involving a motorcycle occurred there on July 16, 2025. Once again several residents indicated this site “…has long been a safety concern…”

On July 31st CTV reported on complaints expressed by a resident about dangerous driving in the SoHo neighbourhood south-east of the City’s downtown.

On August 13, 2025, CTV news reported that the intersection of Viscount Road and Steeplechase Drive was “extraordinarily dangerous”. The article indicated that a pedestrian was struck at that intersection “earlier this year” but that collision was not reported by any news agency.

Some of these resident concerns may reveal genuine safety problems but it is difficult to be certain. This is because there is absolutely no objective data provided either by the City of London, nor by the London City Police, as to where safety problems are revealed in their collected data.

The old adage “The squeaky wheel gets the grease” is a cute way of saying, if you want something just shout loudly. In terms of road safety that type of functioning should not apply. For the benefit of all, roadway improvements should be based on solid objective data, not on who shouts the loudest. However, very often, it is those loud shouts that are the canaries in the coal mine that reveal a safety problem long before it is officially recognized.

Unfortunately those officials responsible for road safety are not the best gatekeepers of the public’s interests. The litigious society in which we live is full of plaintiff lawyers who make money by submitting claims and taking a percentage of the money. In response there are lawyers working for the defendants against those claims. Plaintiff lawyers pad their case wherever possible and defendants hide themselves from plaintiff discovery whenever possible. This combination emphasizes minor safety problems while also hiding important and legitimate ones. The public does not recognize how this legal interplay prevents legitimate safety problems from being identified and corrected.

Amongst the many things held in secret, the number of traffic complaints processed by the City of London is unknown. So again, those citizens complaining about their traffic problems are unaware whether their concerns are unique and important or whether they are one of many competing demands from across the City.

While official news agencies such as CTV news ought to be informing the public about legitimate safety problems that is often not the case. As investigative journalists have been moving toward extinction their objective assessments also move in that direction. Articles that are published about road safety should be based on a thorough knowledge of the subject matter, however, with the increased complexity of our society, journalists cannot be experts in every field being reported. And in terms of road safety substantial expertise is needed to properly inform the public. Journalists cannot just report on the “squeakiest wheels” but on whether those wheels actually need fixing. That is difficult to do when you have little expertise in the matter.

Increasingly, the public receives its news from internet social platforms where anyone can post anything and the success of those posts depends on whether enough of the public is accepting of the sermon being preached. This fake news is built on a fake foundation which jeopardizes the proper functioning of a democratic society.

It has been the long-standing opinion of Gorski Consulting that many traffic complaints could be satisfactorily resolved if there was greater transparency in official circles about what the objective data says about those complaints. Educating the public is key to removing frivolous complaints while strengthening the public’s voice when a genuine traffic safety issue has not been officially recognized.

How Aware Are OPP Of Creating Dangerous Traffic Conditions?

This dashcam view was taken at approximately 1640 hours on westbound Highway 403 on approach to Highway 401 approaching Woodstock, Ontario, It shows an Ontario Provincial Police SUV stopped in the passing lane of the expressway with its emergency lights activated. Further ahead a vehicle had rolled over in the highway median.

There are times when police must act swiftly to react to situations where the public, or other emergency personnel, including themselves, may be in grave danger. At times this puts a police officer in harm’s way until proper reinforcements and equipment can arrive. Regrettably that can be a circumstance of policing. However each circumstance needs deep evaluation as some decisions can needlessly create dangers that need not occur. An example of this occurred on Monday, August 18, 2025 on westbound Highway 403 on approach to Highway 401 on the outskirts of Woodstock, Ontario,

A single vehicle rollover occurred causing a passenger car to come to rest in the median of Highway 403. Upon approaching the site from a westbound position it was observed that an OPP police SUV had come to a stop in the westbound passing lane, as shown in the dashcam photo above. Although the overhead emergency lights from the police vehicle could be seen from a distance, due to the curve in the highway, it was not possible to obtain a clear understanding of where the police vehicle was located, with respect to the travel lanes, until a driver was relatively close to the police vehicle. As traffic slowed that unusual position became evident and westbound vehicles successfully passed the stopped police vehicle.

But such successful scenarios do not always unfold as expected. The traffic volume at the time that the above photo was taken was relatively light and, given the Sunday afternoon, the volume of heavy trucks was much less than on a weekday. However that traffic volume, and its composition is important. If traffic volume was higher and if more heavy trucks were present the ability of approaching drivers to see the stopped police vehicle would be hampered. Heavy trucks have the tendency to block the view of other drivers of highway conditions that lie ahead. So much so that, given the uncommon conditions of several heavy trucks in the vicinity, visibility ahead could be greatly obscured. Also heavy trucks cannot change lanes on a dime, especially when other smaller vehicles are in the vicinity and changing lanes cannot be done immediately.

Two other dash-cam photos are shown below which demonstrate what existed in the westbound lanes on approach to the collision-involved vehicle. As can be seen, there is nothing in the westbound passing lane that would create an immediate danger to westbound drivers. And there are no longer any emergency personnel in the median. So this collision had to have happened some time earlier. So why was the police vehicle still stopped in the westbound passing lane? Was it not possible to call the Ministry of Transportation to bring a blocker truck to block the westbound passing lane instead of using a police vehicle?

This view shows a second police vehicle stopped in the westbound lane of Highway 403 and the small image of the collision-involved vehicle can be seen in the distant background.
This view shows the conditions just beyond the stopped police vehicles and the collision-involved passenger vehicle can be seen in the median. A posted maximum speed sign in the median shows that the speed limit is reduced to 100 km/h ahead meaning that the speed limit within the zone of the collision site is 110 km/h. Traffic often travels at much higher speeds than the speed limit is such scenarios.

What becomes evident in the photo above, and in the photo below, is that the eastbound passing lane on the other side of the highway has been closed by pylons and there is a blocker truck positioned in that lane along with some Ministry of Transportation vehicles. These are the types of resources that should have been applied in the westbound lanes if the passing lane was to be safely closed. But why did this not occur? Was a second blocker truck not available?

Decades earlier another incident took place in the westbound lanes of Highway 401 near the Putnam interchange which is less than 30 kilometres west from the present site. In that incident a collision-involved vehicle had come to rest in the grass median (this was before a concrete median barrier had been put in place). In darkness a police officer attempted to divert traffic out of the westbound passing lane by using the flash light that he was equipped with. This could have been the best equipment that the officer had on hand but it was insufficient and a second collision occurred. At that time the deficiency could have been observed and steps could have been put in place to ensure that more traffic-diverting equipment was available. But that did not happen for many years until blocker-trucks eventually began to be used. However, how often are such trucks available in current times? If a blocker-truck was not available at the currently-mentioned site, why not?

“Cargo” Biking With No Brakes?

What happens when you want to ride a cargo bike? When it is not fitted to be a cargo bike bad things happen.

The above photo was taken in August of 2025 on Dundas Street in east London Ontario as a cyclist decided he could carry a large box on the handlebars of his bicycle. Controlling the loose cargo means that his hands are not available for other purposes, like braking. While approaching a pedestrian crossing he is unable to brake for a pedestrian who thought she had the right-of-way, as shown below.

The cyclist carrying a large box on his handlebars is unable to use his brakes for a pedestrian using a crosswalk in front of him.

The only thing that saved him from striking the pedestrian is that he planted his right foot on the ground and used that as his brake.

Carrying cargo by bike is efficient in many circumstances but dangerous when it interferes with basic actions needed to control the bike. In many instances there is little or no attention paid to bike braking even when the bike is a genuine cargo bike. And the same point holds true for other vehicles such as e-bikes and e-scooters. The ability to apply braking is a fundamental and essential matter that must be considered before any vehicle, motorized or not, is allowed on a public roadway.

Clarke Road Traffic Bottleneck Causes More Than Just Resident Complaints

This northward view along Clarke Road in London Ontario was taken at 0900 hours on August 5, 2025. It shows the traffic south of the Fanshawe Park Road intersection. Residents just to the north of this area have raised complaints about the heavy traffic, including many heavy trucks, being funneled onto their road which is not designed from that purpose.

High volumes of traffic, including many heavy trucks, have come to plague local residents along Clarke Road in the north-east end of the City of London. Gorski Consulting has become aware of one of those complaints made to the City and thus additional analyses have recently been conducted. This site contains a long history of study by Gorski Consulting for a number of reasons. That history will be reviewed before details of the latest analysis will be presented.

Site Features

Clarke Road in an arterial roadway that runs north/south at the north-east edge of London, Ontario. Presently the site of concern is an extension of the Veterans Memorial Parkway (VMP) which is described as a north-south municipal expressway at the east end of the City. It is convenient for heavy vehicle traffic to travel from the Highway 401 expressway, onto the VMP and then northward onto Clarke Road to locations north of the City. Similarly southbound trucks can use the same convenient route to reach the VMP and then onto Highway 401 or destinations to the south.

This Googlemaps view shows how northbound heavy truck traffic can travel along Veterans Memorial Parkway onto Clarke Road, or southbound trucks can follow the same route.
A closer view of the site shows how the City of London constructed an extension of the VMP to connect with Clarke Road at the small orange circle. The large orange circle shows the location of the subject curves of Clarke Road where concerns were expressed about its safety.
This photo, taken on October 18, 2019, shows a video camera pointed toward the curves of Clarke. As per typical procedures developed by Gorski Consulting over the years, multiple, synchronized video cameras were positioned at strategic locations in the curves to capure important data. The traffic volume, speed and other characteristics were obtained from numerous video sessions completed between 2009 and 2019.

A variety of heavy trucks also originate from the City of London itself. Specialized traffic can include trucks hauling dangerous chemical and explosive materials. A large fuel storage facility has existed from many years at the intersection of Oxford Street and Industrial Road. Many fuel tanker trucks use Veterans Memorial Parkway and pass through the curves of Clarke Road north of Fanshawe Park Road on their travels to and from north of the City. It is imperative that trucks hauling these dangerous materials travel along safe routes designed for their use. The curves on Clarke Road are clearly not designed for such use.

Background

Gorski Consulting has been aware of the special traffic problems at the curves on Clarke Road north of Fanshawe Park Road for many years. Before the year 2005 this portion of Clarke Road had the worse road surface conditions in the area and this prompted Gorski Consulting to conduct some preliminary evaluations of instrumentation that could detect those surface deficiencies. Such experimentation eventually led to formalized procedures involving multiple video cameras along with the sensors of an iPhone attached to a test vehicle that objectively exposed those surface problems.

Another reason why Gorski Consulting was interested in the curves on Clarke Road is because, over many years of reconstructing motor vehicle loss-of-control collisions, it became obvious that roadway curves were an important causal factor in those events. Furthermore, roadway edge drop-off was another causal factor in these loss-of-control collisions and it became known that a prominent edge drop-off continued to reform, despite the City’s regrading efforts, because of the features of those curves.

This photo was taken on September 14, 2009, showing the extensive edge drop-off that existed at the northbound lane of Clarke Road in the area of the subject curves. Despite efforts by the City to cover the problem with re-distribution of the displaced gravel, the drop-off redeveloped on a regular basis.
Video documentations conducted Gorski Consulting in the fall of 2009 demonstrated that a number of vehicles were “falling off” the edge drop-off on Clarke Road with the potential of causing loss-of-control collisions. The example in this photo is a video frame taken from October 9, 2009.
Video documentations at the Clarke Road curves also captured dangerous circumstances such as this tanker truck, on October 9, 2009, that passed through the curves on the wrong side of the centre-line. Such actions were found to be a regular occurrence throughout the numerous video sessions performed over 13 years.

In the year 2008 the surface of Clarke Road was repaved. However the edge edge-drop continued to redevelop. This was not a surprise because vehicles continued to drop off the pavement surface regardless of the pavement condition. This was a matter of the higher speed of vehicles and the presence of both vertical and horizonal curves forming an unusual road character. Attempts to make the public aware of these potential problems were unsuccessful as no one in an official capacity wanted such safety issues to become public.

Early in the studies it was expected that loss-of-control events would be occurring at this site and this was confirmed by the finding of physical evidence along the roadsides. Yet nothing was ever officially reported about these happenings. As a result Gorski Consulting began documenting the physical evidence that was found and this continued for a full 10 years between 2009 and 2019. The documentations took place only within the curves which existed for only about 300 metres. The result of this work showed that 121 loss-of-control incidents were documented in that 10-year period, or about 1 incident per month.

Early attempts were made to examine where these events occurred and if a repetitive pattern could be established. These events were plotted on an aerial view of the site, shown below. This data shows the events up to the end of the year 2012.

No obvious pattern was observed in the location of the loss-of-control events as they appeared to be scattered randomly throughout the curves.

Attempts were also made to inquire from the City of London about what knowledge they had about these incidents. A Freedom of Information request was made of the City and they replied that no knowledge existed and the inquiry should be made to the London City Police. A further inquire to the police was complicated but eventually the police data was released. The result of comparing the Gorski Consulting data with the London Police data was reported in a Gorski Consulting website article in April of 2017. A passage from that article is reprinted below:

In 2019 Zygmunt Gorski was appointed to the City of London’s Transportation Advisory Committee and in about a similar time City Staff reports became public about studies on widening of Clarke Road and the building of an extension of the Veterans Memorial Parkway to connect with Clarke Road.

It was at this time that data became available about traffic volumes at the intersection of Clarke Road and Fanshawe Park Road. This intersection was only about 500 metres south of the curves where considerable data was gathered by Gorski Consulting. Additional video sessions were commenced by Gorski Consulting at the curves to understand the current traffic volumes and speeds at the site. In preparation for an upcoming meeting of the Transportation Advisory Committee Zygmunt Gorski asked that an agenda item be attached wherein the data from the curves at Clarke Road could be discussed with committee members. The City Clerk refused to allow the insertion of this item. As a result of this action Zygmunt Gorski submitted his resignation from the Committee. And it was only a few years later when essentially all citizen advisory committees were disbanded by the City.

The video sessions completed by Gorski Consulting in 2019 revealed that a very large increase in traffic volume had developed in comparison to the earlier data commencing in 2009. For northbound vehicles the traffic volume had increased by 50.5%. For southbound vehicles the traffic volume had increased by 46.0%. While this fact was posted in Gorski Consulting articles only a small number of visitors actually accessed those articles. None of this information was made available for the general public to consider.

The last data on the Clarke Road curves posted on the Gorski Consulting website was in the spring of 2020. At this time the Covid-19 pandemic was in full effect. It became of interest to know how traffic volumes and speeds were affected. So on March 27, 2020 another video session was conducted at the Clarke Road site and the results were combined with three other sites, as listed below:

Hamilton Road west of Gore Road in London

Highbury Ave at Commissioners Road in London

Highway 401 at Westminster Drive, south-west of London

The results for Clarke Road were in relation to a half hour time segment between 1600 and 1630 hours. This showed that the 2020 traffic volume had decreased marginally compared to the 2019 data. Similar effects were observed at the other sites so it was no just a unique situation at Clarke Road.

Vehicle speed data was also reported in the spring 2020 website article. In the year 2009 a 60 km/h speed advisory sign was posted at the curves. By October 2019 that speed advisory was lowered to 50 km/h. The data showed that the average speed of vehicles at the curves was 75.18 km/h in 2009 and the average speed was lowered to 72.75 km/h in October 2019. The data from March 27, 2020 showed an average speed of 74.57 km/h. All these speeds are obviously higher than the advised speed.

The site at the Clarke Road curves continued to be monitored by Gorski Consulting until the spring of 2022 when the study was finally discontinued.

Current Status of Clarke Road Site

On July 7, 2025 Gorski Consulting received the copy of a notice of complaint to the City of London from a resident who was responding to a collision on Clarke Road just south of Fanshawe Park Road. The general concern was about the traffic volume, including heavy trucks, and the resulting unsafe conditions at his residence. Gorski Consulting was notified because the complaining resident was aware that a substantial amount of data had been collected. In response to the notification Gorski Consulting attended the collision site and then re-examined the curves of Clarke Road. A large number of trucks were observed such that it appeared that the truck volume had increased from five years ago. We therefore made arrangements to conduct more video sessions to evaluate the current status of the site. Four, 1-hour video sessions were conducted at the following dates and times:

July 30, 1600 hours

July 31, 1300 hours

August 5, 0930 hours

August 7, 1100 hours

The data was summarized to determine the traffic volume and the volume of heavy trucks in each of the video sessions. Again, the summaries were with respect to one-hour time frames. The results are noted below:

July 30, 1600 hours: Total traffic volume = 1139 vehicles, Heavy truck volume = 80 trucks

July 31, 1300 hours: Total traffic volume = 595 vehicles, Heavy truck volume = 120 trucks

August 5, 0930 hours: Total traffic volume = 661 vehicles, Heavy truck volume = 129 trucks

August 7, 1100 hours; Total traffic volume = 676 vehicles, Heavy truck volume = 149 trucks

The 1139 vehicles observed on July 30th was the highest ever recorded in all the previous sessions going back to the first sessions in October, 2009. The 149 trucks observed on August 7 was the second highest ever recorded, surpassed only by the 152 trucks observed in a session commencing at 1357 hours on October 24, 2019.

However there were more details to these results. While completing the analyses of the video sessions it became apparent that the characteristics of the traffic units had changed. In the 2025 sessions there appeared to be many more dump trucks towing pup trailers. Also there appeared to be many more non-trucks, such as pick-ups, vans and SUVs that were hauling large trailers. Thus further analysis was conducted to explore these apparent changes.

A comparison was made with the data from July 30, 2025 commencing at 1600 hours with the same start time on October 27, 2009. We focused our documentations just on dump trucks. We counted how many dump trucks travelled through the site as single unit, without a trailer, and those dump trucks that were hauling a pup trailer. The results are noted below:

October 27, 2009: single unit dump trucks without trailers = 17, dump trucks hauling pup-trailers = 6

July 30, 2025: Single unit dump trucks without trailers = 7, dump trucks hauling pup-trailers = 17

So a reversal of characteristics occurred. In 2025 there were many more dump trucks hauling pup trailers while in the year 2009 it was the reverse.

We then did another comparison whereby we searched for a session completed in the month of July that would match the month of July in 2025. The found session took place on July 13, 2011 commencing at 1105 hours. The results from that session are noted below:

July 13, 2011: Single unit dump trucks without trailers = 13, dump trucks hauling pup-trailers = 1.

So the results were even more dramatic. Only one dump truck was observed hauling a pup trailer in the 2011 session. Yet in the 2025 session 17 dump trucks were observed hauling pup trailers.

Once again we conducted another comparison by looking at the data from August 7, 2025 where we observed a large number of trucks. The results are noted below:

August 7, 2025: Single unit dump trucks without trailers = 31, dump trucks hauling pup-trailers = 22.

Thus on August 7th there were many more observations of dump trucks and more of them were without pup-trailers. Yet 22 of those trucks were hauling pup-trailers which is higher than the July 30th data.

The comparisons also demonstrated a dramatic difference in the traffic volumes at 1100 hours between August 7, 2025 and July 13, 2011. Only 312 vehicles were observed passing through the curves in 2011 whereas in 2025 676 vehicle observations were made. So well over twice as many vehicles passed through the curves in 2025 in the same one-hour (1100 to 1200 hour) time frame.

In this example a pick-up truck is observed on July 30, 2025 hauling a substantial trailer. Such observations were much more common in the 2025 sessions than they were in earlier years.

Over the years residents at the noted curves have also had to deal with vegetation that continually blocked their view when exiting their driveways located on the east side of the road. Looking to the north bushes blocked the view and made it precarious to attempt a left turn. A number of years ago the City of London cut back those bushes but now they have reformed. It is clear that the City has neglected this problem for a number of years now.

Discussion

Overall, it can be said that the numbers of trucks in general increased during the 2025 video sessions but also that the trucks that were observed were also hauling more cargo because of the additional payloads of truck trains and pup-trailers. It is probable that further analysis will reveal that more cargo is also being carried by “non-trucks” hauling trailers but that analysis has not been done. Although no specific analysis had been completed, a review of the video sessions also suggested that there were many more “non-trucks”, such as pick-up trucks, vans and SUVs hauling various trailers, some of them large, through the curves in 2025.

During the long time of documentation of loss-of-control collisions at the Clarke Road curves no official mention was made by news media about any significant collisions. And to the present date Gorski Consulting is unaware of any official reports of significant collisions through the curves. Exploration of police reports and comparing those to the Gorski Consulting data showed that more than 80% the collisions/incidents documented by Gorski Consulting were unknown to police. It is possible that the results of some of the collisions on Clarke Road are only reported in Hospital emergency records but those are not available.

The very large number of cargo-carrying vehicles travelling through the curves of Clarke Road is unlikely to be affected by attempts to change transportation behaviour toward mass transit and active transportation. Regardless of how successfully the City of London manages to divert the population away from climate-changing, personal, motor vehicles there will always be a need to transport cargo, sometimes in very large quantities at once. So if cargo-carrying vehicles are diverted off of the Clarke Road curves they will have to go somewhere else; you cannot just make them disappear.

The City of London has had decades to consider how it should react to the existence of vehicles entering and exiting the Veterans Memorial Parkway at its north terminus and therefore where it meets with Clarke Road. Plans were publicized in 2019 about twinning the Clarke Road bridge over the Thames River just south of Fanshawe Park Road and therefore creating four lanes of traffic. But those “improvements’ will terminate at Fanshawe Park Road. Nothing has been mentioned about traffic problems developing on Clarke Road north of Fanshawe Park Road and particularly at its curves near there. Widening Clarke Road will only entice more traffic onto it and escalate the problems at the Clarke Road curves. A decision awaits but it cannot wait forever.

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