The corner of Cardiff Road and Highway 2 near Morinville is the site of many collisions. Last summer, the province made plans to change the deadly corner but so far, very little work has been done.
There have been numerous collisions reported at the intersection in the past, some of them deadly. Recently, a 53-year-old woman died after a van allegedly failed to stop at the stop sign. Days later, another serious but non-fatal crash happened at the same intersection.
As the population in the area has grown, so has the amount of traffic at the intersection, and that has added to the number of accidents. The intersection also has its own Facebook page – “Cardiff Corner is a death trap.”
“Unfortunately, sometimes it takes major accidents before things start to change, and we certainly don’t want to see that happen here,” says Greg Fraser, a Morinville resident.
Fraser’s daughter is a new driver and he’s worried about her safety if she drives through the Cardiff Road and Highway 2 intersection.
“My daughter just started driving, and I won’t let her go that direction because of the safety issues of trying to cross over that way,” says Fraser.
Last year, the province announced that construction for a new interchange could begin as early as 2011. Little work has been done so far, and the project is currently tied up in red tape; with all of the land for the project still not secured.
“We haven’t been able to start construction yet because there are…a few outstanding land requirements that need to be resolved,” says Martin Dupuis of Alberta Transportation.
“We have acquired most of that land that we need for this interchange except for a few spots, basically. So as soon as that is resolved, we will be able to proceed with construction.”
The intersection is located in Sturgeon County. The County recognizes the need for change, and is confident it will see progress.
“It’s critical for our community from both a safety point of view and an economic development point of view,” says Sturgeon County Councillor Tom Flynn.
“The sooner that it gets done, then the better it is for the whole community.”
It was hoped that construction would begin last fall. Preparations started for construction detours, but little work followed.
“I was at a meeting about a month and a half ago with the new minister… and he indicated that absolutely this interchange will happen,” says Gordon Boddez, Councillor for the town of Morinville.
The cost of building the new interchange is not yet known because the project is still out for competitive tender. A construction start date has not been set.
With files from Vinesh Pratap
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