Waterloo Regional Council is going to examine other options before deciding on a roundabout proposal for the busy intersection at King and Fountain Streets in the Preston area of Cambridge.
It's a problem area during rush hour for congestion and for crashes, with many more occurring than traffic planners had anticipated.
Developers also say it holds a lot of potential.
Waterloo Region Councillors expressed concerns after a number of delegations described some of the possible problems a roundabout could bring.
Waterloo Region Chair Ken Seiling put forward a motion for staff to go back and study other options for improving traffic movement in the area.
Planners say solving this problem won't be easy, and it will likely take an additional three or four months to examine other options, if there are any.
Wayne Cheater, senior project manager for Waterloo Region says, "There's no option that we've been able to identify that takes enough traffic out of this study area and these roads to solve the problems of delay and collisions that are currently being experienced and which are projected to worsen as demands on the corridor increase in the future."
Cambridge resident Joan Marston says there is a need to divert traffic away from the congested area.
Martin Weins also lives nearby and thinks banning some left turns might help. He says "Some inconvenience to travellers would increase safety, fewer collisions and it would improve the flow of traffic through there resulting in no need at all to add additional lanes."
But Cheater says "Reducing the number of conflicts in the intersection would have a great impact on collisions, as well the roundabout would reduce delay for vehicles moving through that intersection."
Those who object say they are glad the council has decided to consider other options.
John Doherty is a spokesperson for developers in the area. He says "We're pleasantly surprised that they're going to reconsider the roundabout option and work with us to analyze the other options that we presented."
Plans to preserve and build new properties that reflect the area's past are at stake.
While a roundabout remains an option, the delay to road improvements needed in the area could last months, meaning it could be more than four years before any work can be done to improve traffic flow and safety in the intersection.
