Harvest season is about to get underway in southwestern Ontario, and many farmers in south London and parts of Elgin County worry high traffic volumes along a north-south corridor will prevent their equipment from getting around. “My biggest fear is some innocent person is going to come through here and run into the side of one of our pieces of equipment, and be hurt badly, or possibly worse,” said farmer Richard Smibert, who farms land in south London close to the London and Elgin County border. Smibert represents a group of area farmers raising safety concerns about the intersection of Wonderland Road South and Glanworth Drive. Nearby Colonel Talbot Road is closed at Glanworth for construction, with much of the traffic using Wonderland Road South instead. Farmers gathered Tuesday at a property just south of London to voice their concerns. “It’s not safe, it’s not easy, and it’s inefficient. As older people would say, it’s a death-trap,” expressed farmer John Ferguson. “We don’t want to be on the road holding people up, being in the way, and making things unsafe. But sometimes it really does put us in an unsafe situation,” said Jason Rauhe, who farms in the area and serves as councillor in the municipality of Aylmer. The intersection is controlled by a stop sign on Glanworth for traffic traveling east-west. There’s also a flashing light in the middle of the intersection. Vehicles wait at the corner for extended periods, and have mere seconds to cross when they do get the chance, said a dump truck driver who stopped during a late-day rush hour to vent his frustration. “Sometimes I count, and it was 12 minutes set up at this stop-sign,” he exclaimed. Farmers are calling for traffic signals to be installed. “I would like to see a four-way set of stoplights put up here immediately,” said Smibert. The intersection is located on the border of Ward 9 and Ward 12 in the city of London. It will occupy just one ward once council boundaries are redrawn for the next term of council. Councillor Elizabeth Peloza, whose ward currently takes in the east side of the intersection, says the corner is continually being assessed for potential changes or upgrades by city engineers. “Traffic patterns are changing. We also have a lot of construction, including Wellington Gateway, which would also push some people onto Wonderland and surrounding areas, just adding to the issues this area’s already having,” explained Peloza. In the meantime, Smibert says he wants other drivers to be mindful that farmers will be out there in force over the next couple of months. “We can’t wait for a construction project to be completed over on Colonel Talbot Road. Things have to move. Fertilizer has to move. Grain has to move. Combines have to move. Our equipment’s four metres to six metres wide, travels at 30 to 40 kilometres per hour, and it has to mix in with this flow of traffic here. It is complete chaos,” he said.
