The intersection of 9th Avenue East and 16th Street East in Owen Sound. (Google Maps image)
Owen Sound council decided against striking a working group to consider potential safety measures at the city’s three most accident-prone intersections.
A motion from Coun. Jon Farmer to create a “crash analysis working group” was voted down during Monday’s council meeting.
His idea was to have a working group with three to five members form sometime after the 2026 municipal election, with the intention of having the group analyze contributing factors and consider potential safety interventions for the three intersections in Owen Sound with the highest number of reported collisions in 2025.
Those intersections are 10th Street East and 9th Avenue East, 16th Street East and 9th Avenue East, and 10th Street East and 4th Avenue East.
“The safety of drivers and pedestrians is a perennial issue of concern,” Farmer says. “I think when we’re faced with a challenge, generally we have two options. One, to assume nothing can be done, and do nothing. Or two, look around for solutions or invent one ourselves to see if we can make a positive difference and test the idea.”
Councillors voted down the idea, offering several different reasons.
Coun. Marion Koepke says Owen Sound Police supplies collision statistics to the city’s public works and engineering department, and if there are “too many accidents it’s part of their jobs to do something.”
“I think we need to trust public works and engineering to do their jobs,” Koepke says.
Coun. Melanie Middlebro’ says moving ahead with this working group now would be “tying the hands of the next council unnecessarily.”
The 2026 municipal election is set for Oct. 26, when voters will elect a new mayor, deputy mayor and councillors in Owen Sound.
“I feel that if this is an issue they want to take on, they should make that decision,” Middlebro’ says.
She also questioned whether any feasible solutions could be drawn up for the three intersections identified.
“All of them are signalized. They’re very straightforward. Accidents happen. And I don’t think we’re out of the realm of what is considered normal,” Middlebro’ says. “I don’t see what you would come up with that would be a solution that would change the normal course of human behaviour.”
“Are we going to do massive changes to these intersections and put in roundabouts, and spend millions of dollars? No we’re not,” she continues. “I don’t see what would come out of this.”
Farmer adds: “I don’t think there’s anything to lose, other than the potential we create a little more safety and a little more public engagement.”