Red means stop; green means go. But the stoplights that we find so familiar at intersections were once a newfangled piece of technology, and the subject of much debate.
City council first began considering installing a “stop-and-go light system” in June 1928, with the goal of regulating traffic at Queen and Gore and, potentially, some parts of Wellington Street. There had already been changes to control the flow of traffic. Just three years earlier, in 1925, Sault Ste. Marie installed its first stop signs; that same year, Canada saw its first traffic light installed in Hamilton, Ont. Would Sault Ste. Marie soon join the big leagues with a set of lights of its own?
That initial plan for traffic lights in Sault Ste. Marie fell through, and the concept didn't truly gain traction until 1936. “Soo may vote on traffic lights at next election,” proclaimed a headline in the Sault Daily Star on July 14, 1936. Over the coming months, in the lead-up to the 1937 municipal election, city councillors would suggest intersections where traffic lights were most needed, as would Chief Harbottle and the Police Commission.
Installing the lights would cost approximately $600 per intersection, which made some councillors wince. Alderman Hill commented, “That's too much money and they're not needed. The money can be spent to better advantage on other things.” (Sault Daily Star, Nov. 10, 1936)
City solicitors prepared a bylaw, which was then presented to Sault Ste. Marie voters as part of the 1937 election. The question read, “Are you in favor of municipal council of the corporation of city of Sault Ste. Marie installing traffic stop-and-go lights at the following intersections: Queen and Pim, Queen and East, Queen and Brock, Queen and Spring and Queen and Bruce at an approximate cost of $3,000?”
Saultites ultimately voted in favour of traffic lights, with 2,052 for and 1,518 against.
However, in the spring of 1937, the traffic light problem hit a new wrinkle: city council rejected a plan to install stop-and-go lights, by a vote of 7-5. The cost would be higher than estimated, coming in at $3,375 — over $73,000 by today’s standards. And councillors weren't convinced the lights were necessary. “We don't need them any more than a cow needs two tails,” Alderman Gibson commented. (Sault Daily Star, March 31, 1937)
In Nov. 1937, the proposal was deferred to the following year. And that summer, crews began installing the first set of lights. On Aug. 18, 1938, Sault Ste. Marie's first set of traffic lights, located at Queen and Brock, started operating.
On the first day, policemen were posted at the intersection but told to be lenient — something many drivers appreciated as they blew right through red lights. This did, after all, mark a big change for local drivers: not only did they have a light signal to contend with, they also had to wrap their minds around Queen Street no longer being a through street. By the following day, drivers caught on, although the newspaper did note that pedestrians “seemed to think that it was a new game in which the object was to dodge across the street against the lights.” (Sault Daily Star, Aug. 19, 1938)
For his part, Mayor McMeeken tried to set a good example, showing up at Queen and Brock on foot, stopping at a red light, and proclaiming, “We can't cross until this changes.” (Sault Daily Star, Aug. 19, 1938)
However, this didn't seem to do much good. In an Aug. 27, 1938, article, one reporter recounted a conversation with a policeman, who noted, “Motorists are giving no trouble ... They have learned to obey the lights. Now and then one goes through but it is a mistake, not intentional.”
However, the policeman noted, people on foot were a whole other matter. “It's the pedestrians who are giving the trouble. You should write something about it. Tell pedestrians that they are liable to a fine if they do not observe the lights.”
While in conversation, they witnessed a pedestrian stop at a green light, then cross on a red. Another person, which the reporter noted was a member of a local educational board, crossed against the light. The policeman went red in the face with anger, grumbled that this was deliberate, and again asked the reporter to write something in the newspaper on the topic.
“‘I'll do that,’ said the reporter stepping away from the curb and crossing the street. He heard the policeman snort in disgust and looked up. He too had crossed under a red light.” (Sault Daily Star, Aug. 27, 1938)
Sault Ste. Marie citizens also took to the Sault Daily Star, writing letters to share their thoughts on the new traffic light and the way forward. One writer advocated for lights at more intersections, predicting that “traffic might be terrific on Queen Street in a few years/” (Aug. 20, 1938)
Others questioned why the lights were on at all hours instead of just during times of busy traffic. As one person wrote, “Surely from midnight until six or seven o'clock in the morning there's no justification for the lights. Why not turn them off then?” (Sept. 17, 1938)
Another driver wrote in, saying, “At 2 a.m. it looks nothing short of dippy for a lone motorist to have to come to a stop on a red light and sit there gazing out the car window at the stars for what seems like an hour before the green light flashes on.” (Sept. 24, 1938)
There would even be one letter, written over a year (and many snowfalls) later, advocating for the stop lights not to be used during the wintertime because of the challenges of stopping on icy roads. (Nov. 18, 1939)
That wasn't to say that everyone was critical of the new lights system — or looking to get out of using it. One letter writer came out swinging in favour of the lights, writing, “Having read week after week, letters criticizing the traffic lights I have come to the conclusion that Sault Ste. Marie is still only a backwoods town ... Surely the greater number of citizens have visited other cities and can see for themselves that this method of directing traffic is the accepted standard, and surely regulated traffic is better than the old ‘hit-and-miss’ system?” (Dec. 17, 1938)
While adult pedestrians may have struggled a bit with following traffic lights, children seemed to catch on quickly. A letter to the editor described watching a mother and young daughter cross at the lights. The mother took a quick check to see if there was a policeman around and then started to walk against the light, much to her daughter's dismay. When her daughter protested that she could only cross on a green, the mother explained that it was fine to walk on a red “if no one was looking.” (Sept. 24, 1938)
And as reported in the Sault Daily Star on Dec. 19, 1938, “Mr. and Mrs. Dave Cohen have a law-abiding son. Yesterday they had Wayne out in his sleigh and came to a red traffic light. Before Mr. Cohen (who was pulling the sleigh) had a chance to stop or go, Wayne put his feet on the ground and said: ‘We can't go until the light turns green!’” The child would grow up to be first a lawyer, then a judge: the Honourable Justice W. Wayne Cohen. Law-abiding, indeed!
Despite the mixed opinions about the traffic lights, five more sets were installed by November 1938, ushering in a new era for drivers and pedestrians alike.
This article was written using information compiled from the Sault Star Archive Collection at the Sault Ste. Marie Public Library.