Surrounding communities have raised their voice about the Highway 23 and Highway 519 intersection and the province is responding.
“The collision rates were starting to climb,” said Firoz Kara, Operations Engineer for Alberta Transportation. “There were a couple of fatalities and a lot of residents were indeed contacting the municipalities to see what could be done.”
The intersection, near Nobleford and Granum, has been under scrutiny for years, many raising concerns over the alarming number of collisions near the Nobleford turnoff, prompting Alberta Transportation to investigate.
Get daily National news
“We brought in a consultant that were experts at this kind of thing,” said Kara. “They took a look at the characteristics, the capacities there, the geometries. Their recommendation to us was to improve the safety performance of the intersection by considering a roundabout.”
The report was presented to council members during Thursday’s County of Lethbridge meeting- who say they’re all for the proposed roundabout.
“It’s at two provincial highways, and of course we want to make sure that safety is first and foremost for residents and travelers,” said County of Lethbridge Reeve Lorne Hickey.
Alberta Transportation says similar one lane traffic circles in the province have proved successful, reducing more than 90 per cent of collision related fatalities, an 80 percent reduction in injuries and bringing the total number of crashes down by 40 per cent.
But the county may not see this project come to fruition for years.
“The government maintains a list of a three year construction plan, with projects that go on and off based on priority and provincial funding,” said Kara.
The project has an estimated price tag of $ 4.4 million.
Comments