Joining a growing chorus of area companies and individuals, a local business is calling for Alberta Transportation to change or remove a concrete median constructed on Highway 2A earlier this month.
Joining a growing chorus of area companies and individuals, a local business is calling for Alberta Transportation to change or remove a concrete median constructed on Highway 2A earlier this month.
The median was installed on Highway 2A north and south of its intersection with 47 Street and Olds College’s north entrance to help traffic flow at the entrance into the Pomeroy Inn and Suites and the north part of the college.
It provides dedicated turning lanes to turn onto the campus or 47 Street.
The owners of 2A Car Wash, located at the intersection of the highway and 48 Street, said they have lost roughly 30 per cent of their business since the median was built directly in front of the business’s east exit.
Teresa Shin, whose family owns the business, said larger vehicles or trailers using the carwash have great difficulty turning south out of the exit onto the highway because the installation of the median has made the roadway too narrow.
Her father, Jin Ho Shin, pointed out tire tracks indicating where vehicles have had to drive over the shoulder and curb to turn south, since they can no longer turn north.
If no one is using the carwash’s outside bay directly next to the highway, vehicles can pull through that bay and exit onto 48 Street or the highway, he added.
But if the bay is occupied, they have no choice but to exit onto Highway 2A.
Jin Ho also said the exit in question is at the end of a public alley but he’s concerned that if his customers start using the alley to exit the carwash, his neighbours could become upset.
The family said they bought the carwash last summer and never received any notice about the median project until construction began.
The carwash’s former owner, Randy Kish, also said he was never told the province planned to build the median.
The Shins have started a petition demanding that Alberta Transportation and the Town of Olds compensate the business for losses due to the installation of the median and call for the province to alter the exit or remove or reconfigure the median to allow vehicles to easily leave the carwash.
So far, 104 people have signed the petition.
Teresa also said the family has approached Olds mayor Judy Dahl, Olds-Didsbury-Three Hills MLA Bruce Rowe and college officials about their concerns.
Dahl confirmed she has spoken with the carwash owners and said the town is looking for ways to fix the problem and bring the family’s concerns to the ministry.
"We’re working on some alternatives and some options," she said but declined to provide details about what those options are. "They have to go through a process of making sure that they’re viable and that they can be done."
And college spokesman Dean Turnquist said "the college is working with the carwash to come up with a solution to widen that back alley so that they can access both in and out."
When construction on the median began, local construction companies such as Richardson Brothers and Netook Construction, as well as one farmer, told the Olds Albertan the median had narrowed the roadway, preventing, or at least making it difficult, for larger vehicles and equipment to use that part of the highway.
At its July 25, meeting the Mountain View Regional Waste Management Commission also indicated it intends to contact Alberta Transportation about the new median.
Al Graham, the commission's chief administrative officer, said the commission's waste trucks are already having difficulty turning into the back lanes of properties adjacent to the highway.
Because of the inability of the trucks to turn as tightly as is needed to get on and off the highway, he said drivers have had to put the trucks in reverse to access their loads.
"One thing you want to avoid is backing up," he said.
While Trent Bancarz, an Alberta Transportation spokesman, said the ministry has not received any complaints about the median since construction ended roughly two weeks ago, if there is a problem with the carwash exit due to the median, the ministry would investigate.
"If it is becoming a difficulty, we would certainly look into it and see what can be done," he said, adding he could only speculate on what alterations or solutions are available.
"It could be a matter of maybe angling the access a little bit differently. That’s a possible solution. It has to be looked at."
Bancarz also said the ministry did not inform any local businesses or residents about the installation of the median beforehand.
Now that the median is finished, he added, the ministry will monitor whether or not it’s causing any problems.
"What we’re going to do is, now that the median is there and the construction is over, we’re going to see how it operates for a time and if there are some issues or concerns we can address them."
The only consultations that took place before construction began were with the college— since it was the college that wanted traffic control measures in place to accommodate the opening of the Pomeroy Inn and Suites this summer— and the town, Bancarz said.
"I believe the college initiated it, the changes to the roadway," he said. "The town was certainly involved in the decision as well."
Turnquist said the college was responsible for altering and widening the north entrance to campus to accommodate emergency vehicles because of the construction of the hotel in order to gain approval to build the facility.
But, he added, the school only wanted lines painted on the roadway while it was the ministry that decided to install the median.
Dahl said the ministry made the town’s chief administrative officer and operations department aware of the median concept but council was not informed of all the details of the project prior to construction.
"They don’t have to tell us every detail of every contract that comes into play," she said.
With files from Paul Frey
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