The MD of Foothills will get its first traffic circle on Okotoks’ borders if the municipality’s new reeve has his way.
The MD will initiate a traffic level study for the intersection of 32nd Street and 338th Avenue in the new year to see what upgrades will be needed with the new bridge now open.
MD Reeve Larry Spilak said he would like to see a traffic circle built at the intersection just north of Holy Trinity Academy.
“Traffic circles are more efficient on intersections where there is not a continuous flow of traffic,” he said. “I think they’re more efficient than lights.”
He said a traffic circle would not only manage traffic levels during busier times, but would also allow them to keep moving when traffic levels are lower.
He wants a single lane traffic circle similar to the one at the intersection of Highways 8 and 22 north of Bragg Creek.
At a minimum, he said he believes either signal lights or a traffic circle should be installed at the intersection.
He said the MD recognizes the need to improve transportation routes north of Okotoks and it has completed upgrades to 338th Avenue and 32nd Street in recent years in anticipation of the bridge opening.
“We anticipated the completion of the 32nd Street bridge and that’s why we upgraded 338th Avenue,” he said.
MD Coun. Ted Mills agrees with Spilak that a traffic circle could be a good option for the intersection.
“You’re not actually stopping traffic, you retain a flow of traffic,” he said.
However, he is not in favour of putting traffic lights at the intersection.
“They’re more money than a traffic circle and there are maintenance issues you have on lights that you don’t have on a traffic circle,” he said.
He said MD council will need to meet with its counterpart in Okotoks to get their response to upgrades at the intersection and to see if the two municipalities could share costs for the upgrades.
MD municipal manager Harry Riva Cambrin said they need to study traffic levels at the intersection to see how the new bridge has impacted traffic patterns in the area.
“Our plans are to put traffic counters in just to see what kind of volumes we’re seeing now that the bridge is open,” he said.
He said it would cost more than $500,000 to install traffic lights. This includes lights and rebuilding the intersection to make it wider and add turning lanes.
“You have to do roadwork and you have to make it obvious where the lanes are and add turning lanes and all the rest of it,” he said.
He said it will be up to MD council to decide whether upgrades should be included in the MD’s 2011 budget once the traffic studies are completed.
He said the MD didn’t have any specific plans for the intersection prior to the bridge opening other than installing lighting, possibly from the Okotoks boundary to the intersection.
Okotoks municipal engineer Marley Oness said a traffic circle could make sense for the intersection.
“I think it would be effective,” he said. “If properly designed, traffic circles are a very good alternative to traffic signals, especially in locations where pedestrian traffic is lighter.”
