Traffic flows at the intersection of Highway 9 and Hamilton Street have been an ongoing issue in Yorkton.
At their Committee-of-the-Whole meeting Monday Yorkton Council were given a presentation as way of background on the situation, and glimpsed what the intersection will look like after a restructuring this year.
Moshiur Rahman with Yorkton's Department of Planning & Engineering said there are several issues of concern with the intersection including placement of light poles and medians which create severely tight turn radiuses for both north and southbound semis wishing to turn left onto Hamilton Street.
The lack of a dedicated left turn lane from Hamilton and Seventh Avenue onto Highway 9 also causes issues, said Rahman.
In designing an intersection upgrade Rahman said several elements were considered important, including adding dedicated turn lanes, moving and up-dating light standards and median poles, and to provide standard pedestrian facilities.
The design is one which will ensure 'very good' level of service in terms of vehicular wait times at the intersection not just now, but looking 20-years out, said Rahman.
"We can continue the same standard the next 20-years," he said, adding the projection is based on a two per cent per year increase in traffic flows at the intersection.
Council had previously approved $487,000 for the project in the 2014 budget. The exact costs will not be known until tenders come in. That process should take place soon.
The project, once started, is expected to take three-months to complete, with Highway 9 traffic being affected for four weeks of the overall build time.
