It’s not very often that Lethbridge sees traffic gridlock, but for many motorists driving home to the west side on Thursday, you would be forgiven for thinking you were stuck in traffic on Calgary’s Deerfoot Trail.
A pair of crashes caused major congestion on the only two access roads to west Lethbridge Thursday.
That frustration has once again prompted discussion over the need for a third bridge. But city staff said Whoop up Drive and highway three are still more than capable of handling the traffic load.
“I call those woulda, coulda, shouldas. You never know if they’ll happen. Inclement weather or accidents, they’re rarity in most cases” said Darwin Juell, City of Lethbridge transportation manager
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Collisions on those roads, often weather-related are not entirely uncommon, and when traffic is locked up, emergency vehicles often get stuck too.
“We need people to understand, get over far to right, give as much room as you can. stop so we can get thru,” said Barry Sorensen, Platoon Chief, Lethbridge Fire & EMS
City staff said frequency of crashes today is no reason to build another bridge. Traffic volume on Whoop up is rising, but still has a long ways to go.
According to Jeull, “it’s about 46,000 cars per day, it can handle 60 to 65,000, so right now it’s nowhere near capacity.”
That means the “need” for a third crossing within the city is at least 20 years away. However, transportation planners worry what could happen when significant maintenance is needed to one bridge- leaving a single access to and from the west side.
“That’s what we’d be alarmed at without the 3rd crossing,’ said Juell. “Take out a bridge or lane, that accident that happened for about an hour could be weeks or months with lane replacement or bridge replacement.”
City staff are encouraging public input on future transportation plans, and will hold an open house later this month.
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