Raise the Hammer

Hi There 'step' father. First and most importantly allow me to say sorry for your loss. It seems kind of trivial to be here chatting about street lights at such a time, but I do appreciate you taking the time. I'm planning on contacting Matt's mother sometime next week once things have settled down and will offer our website as a place for her petition to be hosted online.

Regarding your evaluation of our timed lights, I have a couple of comments from my own observations as a resident downtown near York Blvd - we have the same problem here. Quite possibly the only time of the day where Hamilton's streets feel somewhat normal is rush hour. The rest of the time it is like walking along the shoulder of the QEW. I don't believe it will ever be possible to time the lights so only those doing 60km hit them green (furthermore, I believe 60km is MUCH too fast for urban, residential/commercial streets. 30-40km would be more appropriate). If you come along Main and find yourself slightly behind 'the wave' as young people call it, all you need to do is step on it and you can reach speeds of over 100km for several lights before finally hitting a red. I think our streets are too wide and with too many lanes. We have far too few stoplights - try getting to the bus stop at Main and Strathcona from my side (north side) of Main. Or use the bike lanes on Ferguson where it crosses Main. Brutal and dangerous. Hamilton's best streets and most successful in terms of retail/dining are King William/Hess/James North and now South/Locke South/Westdale etc....all have one thing in common - no wide, fast moving streets with narrow sidewalks and speeding cars. It's almost impossible to speed on James North even if you wanted to.

That's how all streets in our city should be - even if adds 3 or 4 minutes onto daily commutes.

Thanks for writing, and again, my deepest condolences to you and your family.