Two of the city's busiest intersections are expected to get makeovers in 2014.
Mayor Roy Ludwig announced at the Nov. 18 regular meeting of council that the provincial government has agreed to make changes to the intersection of Sister Roddy Road and Highway 39 as well as Highway 39 and Sawyer Road at the east edge of the city.
"They have agreed to widen out the roadway at Sister Roddy Road," Ludwig said following the meeting. "They haven't agreed to lights at this juncture, they are going to widen it out and put in extra lanes allowing drivers to speed up and slow down. That will make it a lot safer."
Once the changes are made, Ludwig said the province plans to revisit the situation in time and determine whether or not lights are needed.
As for the east intersection, Ludwig said those traffic lanes will also be widened out to allow traffic to speed up and slow down. Again, traffic lights are not part of the equation at this point.
The City has been pressing the provincial government to make improvements to those intersections for a number of years. According to recent traffic numbers collected by the province, they are the two busiest in the City. Unfortunately, they have also been the site of numerous accidents.
"We are very excited to have those improvements," Ludwig said while adding that the City will not be asked to pick up the tab for either project. "They are scary intersections. Sawyer in the morning with all of the oilfield traffic leaving town and the mine traffic; Sister Roddy Road has just been a zoo and will only get worse with our development going in there. When we were redoing 47 north and all of the traffic had to be funneled, it was an accident waiting to happen."
Along with those two intersections, the City has also been working with the province to create an intersection off Highway 47 south, which would accommodate The Ridge modular home development.
Ludwig said the situation is complicated because the highway curves at the point where the most likely access point would go which could present a safety issues. However, he noted that a number of people have been working on the matter, and the province has agreed to take another look.
"By moving it to the best place in the curve where we have the best sightlines, we are hoping they will put in an access and egress, which we absolutely need," he said.
"Coming over from Willow Park will not work, plus they have to cross over a water line so that is not going to work for us."
Council also passed a bylaw amendment that clears the way to the City selling the Kensington Service Road to TS&M. Ludwig noted that under the agreement, the road will essentially be closed and become a parking area for businesses along that road and their customers.
"They came forward with their engineering and traffic group and felt that was something that would be an advantage to them if it was closed," Ludwig said. "That (area) was always a nightmare; it was so bad at various times throughout the year people were stuck in there. Now, with it being taken over I am sure all of those issues will be rectified."
The City did receive one letter in opposition but felt the issues raised could be dealt with and were not enough to stop the deal from being closed.
