Foothills County is fighting to have an overpass on Highway 2 moved up the Province’s priority list.
Discussion of closing medians to create right-in, right-out access at Highway 2 and 306 Ave., 338 Ave., and 370 Ave. has taken place at the Foothills County and Town of Okotoks council tables through the summer, as both municipalities work with Alberta Transportation to create safer access points.
However, many resident concerns were raised with regards to closures of all three intersections for travel and emergency response times. Additionally, the Town noted it prefers to see 338 Ave. left open, because it is slated for an overpass to alleviate traffic issues and there was concern closing it would bump the project down the list by lowering the potential dangers at the intersection.
“The goal here is moving the 338 Ave. overpass up the list, that solves so many problems,” said County Coun. R.D. McHugh after bringing a letter with suggested actions forward to the Sept. 2 council meeting.
“It takes the pressure off of having to do so much on the in-between. If that overpass was there it makes everything else so easy and less complicated.”
If the interchange is years down the road and the interim measures are taken in the meantime, it adds unnecessary costs that could be going toward funding the overpass off the top, he said.
“It would really solve all these problems in one fell swoop,” said McHugh.
He said studying current statistics and traffic flow isn’t indicative of the concerns for Highway 2 between the existing Okotoks and Aldersyde overpasses. The amount of residential development in Okotoks and added traffic coming online is going to impact those numbers and put more pressure on what he called an “already-stressed transportation system in the region.”
Traffic volumes on Highway 2A from the Okotoks overpass into town are averaging 30,000 vehicles per day already and that number will spike if the intersections are closed, he said.
“I would align this with the unprecedented growth experienced by the town of Airdrie 10 years ago,” said McHugh. “I’m just hoping to be proactive with the growth in Okotoks that is going to hit these roads, that is going to blow the numbers out of the water again.”
Between the three intersection at 306 Ave., 338 Ave. and 370 Ave. there have been 37 accidents in the past year, a number he said is significant enough to warrant immediate action.
In addition to pushing for the 338 Ave. interchange to come sooner than later, he said improvements need to be made to the existing exchange at Highway 552 (Okotoks overpass) – especially if alternate accesses are closed.
He said the interchange at Highway 552 should be reconfigured with traffic lights similar to the overpass at 498 Ave., north of High River to help drivers make safe left turns on and off the highway and to help break up heavy traffic volumes along Highway 2A into Okotoks.
“The Highway 552 overpass at this point has such an amount of traffic that it is completely ridiculous,” said McHugh. “If the medians were closed, then residents will have added traffic on 552 trying to make lefts and it’s virtually impossible when the traffic coming out of 2A is coming screaming at you, there’s no opportunity to turn left.”
Coun. Alan Alger supported pushing for the work to be done and added he would like to see closure of medians happen slowly, if it must be done, rather than closing all three intersections at 306 Ave., 338 Ave. and 370 Ave. all at once.
“We’ve all had calls and emails of concern, even the letter from the Town of Okotoks, to leave one of those intersections open – 338 Ave. would be the opportune one – to close the other two or at least close one at a time,” said Alger. “It allows people to adjust to it, adjust to different traffic patterns.”
Municipal manager Harry Riva Cambrin said the issue has been percolating in the County for some time, and the County was requested by Alberta Transportation to take action on the dangerous intersections along Highway 2.
“There are options for the municipalities to collaborate with Alberta Transportation to find a solution, short-term versus in the long-term,” said Riva Cambrin.
Krista Conrad, OkotoksToday.ca
