“"road Closed - Local Traffic Only"”

A busy road is under reconstruction and will be closed for the next four months. The road is closed with "do not enter" signs and "no access" signs (although signs stating that several businesses on that street are still open is there as well) and there is a detour posted. There are several side streets parallel to this street which are blocked off with "Road closed - local traffic only" signs. There is no reason for these roads to be closed except to cater to a few whiners who complain about traffic on their street. The detour is a real inconvenience as the detour requires travelling several other roads which are undergoing construction simultaneously.

It irks me that the city and/or the police service are telling me that I cannot use publicly funded roads for several months merely to prevent increased traffic volume on nearby streets.

How is "local traffic only" defined? I live exactly one mile from the closed roads. I use those roads frequently. Am I local traffic? Do I just claim to have been travelling to a store on the side street or visiting a friend (lies, both of them)?

My research has shown that the police can shut down roads (section 134), but can they pick and choose who is allowed to drive on a particular road by defining who is local traffic?

The other aspect of this is that the signs are not in French. Don't know if that matters. Not that I speak French even a little bit.

Any advice would be appreciated.

P

If you're referring to the orange and black checkered road closed signs, I don't believe they're actually enforceable. Those signs are posted by the municipality, not the police. When police shut down a road for an investigation, the signs should have an actual "Do Not Enter" logo (red circle with white dash) and usually a "Closed by order of police". There is no exemption for local traffic, it would strictly be at police discretion.

As for signs not being in French, you'd have to live somewhere that's a designated bilingual community for it to matter.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

The signs are black stencils on orange painted plywood. There are no circle/line "do not enter" signs but now that you mentioned it, there may be a 'by order of police' placard on the barricade. I'll have to double check.

Do the police have the authority to divert traffic for four months without cause?

The attached photo was taken this morning. It is the only signage at that intersection.

Thanks,

P

If that's the only sign, to the best of my knowledge it's not enforceable under the HTA. There may be local bylaws however.

And again, those signs aren't placed by the police but by the City. Detours may be inconvenient, but they're supposed to help lessen backups due to construction and send traffic to non residential arterial roads that can handle the increased load.

every time i have heard "local traffic" are those that actually reside within the boundaries of that restricted area, or use a business within that area.

It also helps to keep vehicles out of the are as Staton mentions to enable construction to be completed faster

Thanks for the replies.

Just to clarify because I don't think my original post made the point well. I haven't been charged with anything - I am actually enquiring because I am questioning whether or not I can defy this as a point of protest at what I consider unreasonable restrictions by the municipality and/or police.

The main street is under construction and is closed with proper signage, and with valid reason. No thoughts of even trying to drive down that road.

On adjacent parallel streets, there are no impediments to traffic. Its business as usual. However, a few residents complained that their normally quiet street has faced increased traffic because of the construction, and so signs went up stopping people from using those streets.

During the prior phase of construction, police would park in the middle of the blocks stopping drivers who turned onto those 'closed' side streets. I don't think it right, just, legal, or appropriate for the authorities (city or police) to barricade the entire length of four streets FOR SEVERAL MONTHS to force drivers away from passable roads and onto another high traffic road. Aside from aggravating traffic woes, I don't feel it right that some citizens can travel down those streets but others cannot. How does the officer determine whether I am local traffic or not?

If I were stopped for traveling on these streets, what are my odds of not paying a fine/earning demerit points?

Many thanks for your advice.

P