The issue of whether to put in traffic lights at the intersection of 16th Street and First Avenue was discussed at the recent meeting of Weyburn's Police Commission, city council was told.
The issue of whether to put in traffic lights at the intersection of 16th Street and First Avenue was discussed at the recent meeting of Weyburn's Police Commission, city council was told.
Four-way stop signs have been set up at that intersection, but they won't be officially in force until warning lights and signs can be installed, particularly for traffic coming in from the east on Highway 13/First Avenue.
The provincial department of Highways and Infrastructure will not pay for traffic lights at that intersection, as they feel the traffic count doesn't warrant the expense. City engineer Blaine Frank explained the lights would cost about $250,000 if the city put them in on their own.
"You could end up waiting longer for lights than for a four-way stop," Frank commented.
Coun. Dick Michel noted a suggestion was made to move the traffic lights from the intersection of Second Street and Souris Avenue, so the city has looked into this, but found all they could salvage from such a move would be the light standards.
Coun. Michel added he thinks the four-way stop will work once proper warning lights and signs have been installed, and said, "It will take time to get used to the change." The city tried using the signs for a brief time, but without warning lights, there were too many traffic problems caused as a result, so the stop signs have been covered over for the time being.
City council also approved a tender for the new automated refuse system that will be put in place in the New Year.
The tender put in from Fer-marc Equipment of Regina for the price of $243,759 was approved, even though there was a lower tender bid from IPL Waste Handling, based out of Saint-Damien, Que., in the amount of $237,965. The city had budgeted $290,000 for the carts.
There were some concerns with the Quebec firm, namely that if any problems arose with the roll-out carts, the city would have to pay all shipping costs to and from Quebec, which could represent a significant cost over the next 10 years. The closest reference for their carts was the City of Winnipeg, and Weyburn officials were told there were some outstanding problems with IPL in Winnipeg, such duplicated addresses and some unreliable data collection that the city is still dealing with IPL about.
For the Regina firm, the cities of Moose Jaw and Regina have both used the carts and find they are a good quality that stands up to Saskatchewan weather very well, with a life expectancy that exceeds the 10-year warranty.
For this price, Weyburn will be receiving 3,600 large carts (360 litres capacity) and 150 smaller carts (with 245 litres capacity), including delivery to the curb. If all goes well, the system will begin to be used as of Monday, Jan. 3, 2011.
