Council adopts transportation plan

Yorkton Council has unanimously supported adopting a new Transportation Master Plan for the City to act as a guideline over the next decade.

"The city undertook this review of the transportation plan from 2003 as a means to ensure proactive planning was being done for a growing community. The city also took advantage of the cost sharing by the Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure whereby the city is only required to contribute 25 per cent of the total cost of this study," detailed a report circulated to Council at its regular meeting Monday.

"The draft plan includes an evaluation of the existing transportation network including reviews of existing intersections and corridors, dangerous good routes, downtown parking, truck by-pass routes, transit, pedestrian and cycling facilities, railways and collision analysis."

The recommendations included within the report are broken into immediate, intermediate and long-term improvements with a probable estimated cost of $22.8 million.

Recommendations for immediate improvements include signalization of the intersection of Broadway Street and Seventh Avenue, Queen Street and Hwy #9, York Road and Gladstone Avenue, Darlington Street and Mayhew Avenue, and Darlington Street and Dracup Avenue. Other improvements include the optimization of the existing traffic signals at Broadway Street and Dalebrooke Drive, Broadway Street and Gladstone Avenue and Broadway Street and Hwy #9, construction of a raised center median on York Road with the addition of protected left turning bays at various locations, replacing the four-way stops on King Street with roundabouts, traffic calming measures on King Street, and improvements to the Broadway Street corridor. The time frame for immediate improvements is from 2010 to 2020, detailed the report.

Not all of the improvements are likely going to be constructed. The importance of this plan is that it provides the city with a better understanding of its transportation network and where it is necessary to make improvements in order to ensure orderly traffic movements. Some of these improvements are beyond the financial capability of the city and will have to be weighed accordingly as to their need, stated the report.