CITY DRIVERS BEWARE:
New traffic lights installed on Scenic Drive
Installation of new traffic lights on Scenic Drive South is one of several improvements the City of Lethbridge has made to address safety and capacity issues here.
One of the main improvements that motorists will notice are the new traffic lights that have been installed on Scenic Drive and 4 Street South. The lights are intended to ease long delays for southbound traffic trying to turn left onto Scenic Drive, and to help pedestrians and cyclists safely cross the intersection.
“That intersection has a lot of unsafe maneuvering that you have do, along with the long history of accidents and crashes,” says Robert Kovacs, senior project administrator at the City of Lethbridge.
“During peak times it is really hard because of all of the cars, then you find that people take risks to try to get through it, so all of these factors are how we go about assessing the intersections and which ones get updated to traffic signals.”
The intersection may seem busy with lines, from the pedestrian crossing, turning lane lines and the extension of the bike boulevard.
The extension connects the existing bike boulevard that was completed last year to the regional pathways, allowing bikers to follow the boulevard all the way to the west side.
“You will notice the green paint, which is the bike boulevard and other lines which makes it look a little busy,” says Kovacs.
“We put them into flash mode for people to get used to it and we plan on putting it into full operation by Tuesday Oct. 9, by 9 a.m.”
The City has also made improvements to the poor sightlines to the north and east for westbound traffic on the east leg of 9 Ave. S, and spacing between Scenic Drive and 9 Ave. S, as it was sub-standard, resulting in numerous conflict points.
A pedestrian signal was installed on 3 Ave. and 12 Street B South, since it was identified as a dangerous intersection for pedestrians due to bad sightlines. It will be operating within the next week.
Along with the intersection improvements, the City has been experimenting with new solar technology to reduce its energy consumption with the first-ever solar-powered pedestrian crosswalk in front of Galbraith Elementary School.
“The first trial run for us is a solar-powered pedestrian crossing and we are seeing how that functions without having direct power running to the lights, but having immediate solar to power them,” says Kovacs. “We think that the technology has caught up, but it gets challenging when the days get shorter in the winter, to see if there is enough light to run it because those kids are pressing the buttons a lot during school time, so it was a good area to give it a test run.”
The solar-powered intersection study is being conducted to see if it would be a viable investment for the city. The technology would allow for easier installation and maintenance, along with moving the city towards a more environmentally friendly future.
The intersection and reconfigurations help reduce the chance of collisions while improving safety for both drivers and pedestrians.
Follow @GBobinecHerald on Twitter