Well, it's official.
Town council has formally approved its preferred option for the Main Avenue pilot project presented by Alberta Transportation engineers.
The five options originally brought before council were to either leave the existing four-lane configuration as is, use back-to-back left turn lanes with the traffic lights at Centre Street, four mini roundabouts, three mini roundabouts with the traffic signals at Centre Street, or one mini roundabout with back-to-back left turning lanes and the lights at Centre Street.
Following Alberta Transportation officials' presentation of those options to council during the April 4 meeting, administration narrowed them down to two: the three mini roundabouts with the traffic lights at Centre Street or the back-to-back left turning lanes with the traffic lights at Centre Street.
Council again discussed the options during its April 18 meeting, when a motion was carried to support Alberta Transportation's three mini roundabout option with the traffic lights at Centre Street.
Although there was certainly some support for mini roundabouts expressed by the community during public consultations, there were also quite a few reservations raised ó especially regarding concerns that this option could potentially cause problems for the high load traffic.
That very concern was raised by Coun. Myron Thompson, who wanted to know how the massive trucks that barely get over the Red Deer River bridge would get around the mini roundabouts.
But Coun. Chris Vardas told him the Alberta Transportation engineers had designed the mini roundabouts so that heavy trucks could drive right over them.
Although the project's cost will be covered by Alberta Transportation, which owns the road, Angie Lucas, director of operational services and planning, told council the back-to-back left turning lane option was cheaper, since it basically only requires line painting. However, that option doesn't leave additional room for sidewalks. So even though the three mini roundabouts option is more expensive, administration recommended it because it leaves more room for future improvements like widening the sidewalks for increased pedestrian safety, as well as adding features like benches, all while maintaining a steady flow of traffic.
"If we want to build that downtown, make it strong and have people walking and shopping down there, you have to create an environment that is pleasant and safe for them to be in," said Lucas.
So if Alberta Transportation gets enough funding, residents will be seeing a change between the set of traffic lights at the main intersection and Fourth Street. The hope is to be able to launch the pilot project in the fall so it can be temporarily trialled over the period of one year, said Lucas.
After the trial period, the pilot project will be reviewed ó if it works out well it will likely be upgraded to become permanent, otherwise, it will basically be back to the drawing board.
But that pretty well depends entirely on whether Alberta Transportation receives enough funding in its budget this year to take on the project.
Perhaps Coun. Myron Thompson said it best.
"I can support the motion, but I'm not going to hold my breath."
ó Simon Ducatel, Round Up editor
