Nipawin traffic study recommends new four-way stop, sidewalk

NIPAWIN — The Town of Nipawin will see some improvements coming soon to its streets following the results of a traffic study.

A March 12 open house saw Jeff Hrynkiw, Nipawin’s land planning advisor and development officer, and other staff speaking with members of the public regarding results from a traffic assessment and improvements study done by Allnorth in 2019.

The results are what was brought to the public, and priorities between the study and the public were similar, Hrynkiw said.

“That made us quite confident that we were looking at changing the right things first and we’ll go from there.”

Based on results from the open house, the public’s highest ranked improvement was a new four-way stop at the corner of Centre Street and Second Avenue. A lot of drivers have experienced frustration at this intersection, Hrynkiw said, and a four-way stop will allow easier access to Centre Street from Second Avenue.

“It’s difficult to see the traffic moving on Centre Street. You have to pull out pretty far into the intersection.”

The town plans to start work on the project this summer.

The top priority, according to Hrynkiw and the traffic study, is the installation of 570 metres of sidewalk along Highway 35 from 10th Avenue West to the Co-op gas station.

There is a lot of foot traffic along this stretch with no sidewalks or pedestrian safety, Hrynkiw said.

Background work on the project will begin this summer with construction beginning in 2021.

Putting up signs and painting lines are not costly projects for the town and Hrynkiw plans to get most of these smaller projects done this summer.

Even with the dangers of COVID-19 causing challenges for town staff, Hrynkiw said there is still plenty to do for himself and Blaine Crowley, the works and utilities director, to get the bigger projects started, including land tenders and approval from the Department of Highways.

Input into the study came from back and forth between Allnorth, the town staff, and a stakeholder group that gave their priorities for improvements to Nipawin traffic issues. Hrynkiw and Crowley analyzed the list before the open house to ensure a balance of pedestrian and vehicle traffic improvements were available for consideration, Hrynkiw said.