An Eagle Hill resident urged Mountain View County councillors last week to upgrade two intersections in the area that were deemed unsafe more than a year ago by an engineering firm.ìIs it going to take a fatality in our area Ö to have something like that fixed?î Sharon Roth asked council's policies and priorities committee during her presentation at Wednesday's meeting.In July 2010, the Gazette reported that Calgary-based AMEC Americas Ltd. had recommended the county reconstruct the intersections of Twp. Rd. 340 and range roads 43 and 44, commonly known as Garrington Bridge Road and Westward Ho North Road.The engineer's report, ordered by the previous council at the request of former Div. 6 councillor Liz Negropontes, concluded that speed curves ñ called horizontal curves ñ at both intersections should be removed, and council at the time voted to include the projects for consideration in the 2011 budget.ìAlmost everyone in our area has had near misses,î Roth told P&P Wednesday.ìWe've been told by various people if there was an accident Ö the county would be liable ñ because a study has been done by AMEC and both of those corners are deemed unsafe.îìWe're aware of the safety issue,î Reeve Paddy Munro told her. ìBut it's a matter of priorities and it comes down to a vote.îCAO Tony Martens said AMEC's cost estimates for the upgrades came in at $316,000 for Rge. Rd. 44 and $2.238 million for Rge. Rd. 43. The latter work also includes regrading about three kilometres of Twp. Rd. 340 to eliminate seven curves that do not meet Alberta Transportation guidelines for an 80 km/h speed limit.Deputy reeve Bruce Beattie said councillors had visited the intersections during a recent tour of problem roads and bridges in the county. But, with council holding taxes this year to a zero per cent increase, ìit really did come down to budget priorities,î Beattie said. ìWe've got areas all over the county ñîìSure, there's lots of areas,î Roth replied, ìbut have they been deemed unsafe? It's in print that they are unsafe.îMunro, who is councillor for Div. 6, told Roth that he gets at least one phone call a day from residents complaining about the traffic hazards in the area.ìThat whole area to Eagle Hill, people are seriously concerned,î Munro said, adding he's also concerned about the $2.24-million estimate.ìSharon, we're concerned and we want to figure this out,î he said. ìI support fixing these corners (but) maybe not to the tune of $2.3 million.îìWe take it seriously,î Beattie affirmed, but reminded Roth that council also had to back off on the Big Prairie Bridge project this budget year due to the higher-than-expected cost of the project.Munro said he expected ìquite a fewî residents to attend the Sept. 28 P&P meeting to talk about road issues in the Eagle Hill area and told Roth to invite neighbours who had concerns.ìLet them know that two weeks from now, if they have problems with noise and dust, this is the place to be,î he said.The AMEC study recommended removing the horizontal curves, eliminating all yield signs, and controlling the intersections with two stop signs on Rge. Rd. 44 and one on Rge. Rd. 43.ìThe horizontal curve introduces an unsafe element as motorists yielding/stopping Ö are subject to awkward sightlines created by the sharp intersection angles,î the report said of both intersections, adding that neither conforms to standard treatments under provincial highway design guidelines.
