City of London Ontario Continues to Produce Confusion and Dangerous Roadway Markings in Construction Zones

The City of London Ontario appears to have abandoned it responsibility to drivers to create a safe environment in construction zones. This is a recent trend whereby confusing roadway markings are leaving driver’s in confusion. Another example is examined here at the north end of the construction zone of Highbury Ave as it approaches Dundas Street in east London.

Highbury Ave has been under construction for the Bus Rapid Transit system. The portion of Highbury containing construction is between Oxford Street to the north and Dundas Street to the south. For those southbound drivers leaving the construction zone they must travel down the slope from the railway overpass toward Dundas Street, as shown in the photo below.

In the photo above a sign indicates to southbound drivers that the roadway ahead continues a single lane where travel can either travel straight through or make a right turn. But there is no guidance to drivers who intend to make a left turn onto Dundas. Certainly there is no signage prohibiting left turn at Dundas.

As we progress further southward the photo below shows that the southbound lane develops a yellow centre-line, the southbound lane also has a marking indicating that it is a left-turn lane. So the newly-developed lane to the left of the centre-line should be a lane designated for northbound travel – but is it?

In the photo below we see that southbound traffic is using the “left-turn” lane to travel through the intersection. But what about the additional lane that seems to have been created to the left of the left-turn lane? Is it now a lane for northbound traffic? This makes for a confusing and dangerous situation.

The incidence of collisions resulting from this confusion is unknown. London City Police will not provide details about how many collisions occur as a result of such confusion. And the City of London has a substantial Risk Management Department whose purpose is to protect the City of London from liability. In a sense the City is using taxpayer money to pay for City lawyers that will fight civil claims against its own citizens: civil claims created by the City of London through its failure to produce safe driving conditions that the City is obligated to properly maintain.