After seven years of fighting for signalization, a Foothills County councillor is relieved to know there will soon be traffic lights on what she calls a dangerous highway intersection.
Coun. Delilah Miller has made her case to have traffic lights installed on Highway 7 and 16 Street (Big Rock Trail) since she was elected as the Div. 2 representative for Foothills County in 2013, citing numerous serious accidents and close-calls on the highway.
In August 2017, Alberta Transportation deemed lights unnecessary at the time and repainted lines on Highway 7 instead, making right lanes through-lanes and creating left-turn lanes at the intersection.
This week, Alberta Transportation sent an agreement to Foothills County for the $1.2 million project, of which the Province will pay half and the balance will be split between the County and the Town of Okotoks, a commitment that was voted on at Okotoks council’s May 25 meeting, after the Town had initially denied requests for a funding split in February.
It was the news Miller has been waiting to hear.
“In the world of politics, it’s pretty exciting when you get a win,” said Miller. “It’s a really good news story for me. It’s a long time coming and I’m really glad I pushed hard at every level that I could. It’s a good reward to have it happen after all this time.”
It took several meetings with Alberta Transportation, a strong lobbying front, and two requests for funding support to the Town of Okotoks through the intermunicipal committee to have the project approved.
“It was really great we could finally convince them (Okotoks) to come to the plate and then when we wrote a letter to Alberta Transportation letting them know we had the financial backing, they stepped right up to the plate too,” said Miller.
Work could begin as early as the fall, she said.
It will be a significant undertaking as Highway 7 will be recontoured and widened to accommodate turning lanes, which is where most of the cost comes into play. The light standards have a price tag of about $300,000 to $400,000.
Miller hopes having lights at the intersection will finally make a difference in traffic safety, which she said has not improved with the reconfiguration work that was done.
“As much as I hate to see traffic lights in the country, this is one that’s been needed for a long time and it’s just such a relief to know that it won’t be a high-accident spot any longer,” she said.
Cherie Andrews, owner of Chinook Honey Farm, which is situated on 16 Street just south of Highway 7, said it’s great news. She’s witnessed several accidents at the intersection over the years and has been at the forefront in Miller’s fight for traffic signals.
“Every time you enter that intersection environment, it’s scary,” said Andrews.
She said the reconfiguration helped, but only slightly. With the speed limit still at 100 km/h along the stretch of highway, turning right out of a fast-moving lane is risky business, she said.
“It’s downright taking your life into your hands that you don’t get rear-ended, because it can happen so easily,” said Andrews. “Or, even worse, somebody behind doesn’t want to slow down and they go into the left-turn lane and keep on going at 100 km/h, which we’ve seen.”
With the Town of Okotoks’ recent approval of its West Okotoks Area Structure Plan, which outlines future development of the lands north of Highway 7 and east of 16 Street, Andrews said putting lights at the intersection is a good first step to account for the inevitable traffic increase.
It also brings peace of mind to the honey farm owners.
“It’s one of those concerns that we always have for our staff and our customers, travelling here safely, getting here safely,” said Andrews.
Safety at the intersection and noise reduction on Big Rock Trail were the focus of conversation at the Okotoks council meeting on May 25, when council agreed to put forward $60,000 per year over five years for the project.
Part of the agreement with the County indicates truck traffic from Mountain View Poultry, located on Big Rock Trail, would be deflected via a new road that would join Big Rock Trail/16 Street at a 90-degree angle. Trucks would also be directed toward Highway 7 as opposed to routing through Okotoks via Southridge Drive.
“This is an area that is potentially a dangerous intersection,” said Coun. Ed Sands. “Anything we can do to enhance safety of the intersection, plus it benefits Okotoks residents and the opportunity to reduce truck traffic coming into town on Big Rock Trail as that area becomes more urbanized I think is a good thing for the Town.”
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
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