BOWDEN - An intersection does not necessarily have to have a history of collisions to be dangerous, the commanding officer of Olds RCMP says.
Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald made that point during a Sept. 24 Bowden town council meeting.
He was reacting to concern about the intersection of 20th Avenue and 22nd Street, raised earlier by Coun. Kerry Kelm on behalf of himself and a couple of other citizens.
Kelm said thanks to a hedge at the corner and vehicles parked nearby, it’s difficult for motorists to see around the corner until it’s almost too late.
“In that corner there you don’t have any visibility. You’ve got those high hedges on that corner. You’re coming from the south and going toward the school,” Kelm said.
“Your nose is already in the middle of the intersection before you can see anything, most of the time."
After reading that story in the Albertan, Olds RCMP Staff Sgt. Jim MacDonald did some research on collisions at that corner.
"There's nothing I saw going back to November 2017 at that intersection. But again, it doesn't mean there can't be," he said.
"There's not collisions there to support that it's really dangerous, but there don't need to be collisions necessarily. I mean perception or potential for danger," MacDonald said.
"If a few people are reporting they sense the potential, it's good to look at it."
