While most of the recent upgrades made to the interchange of highways 2 and 27 are welcome by local officials, more still needs to be done, they said.
While most of the recent upgrades made to the interchange of highways 2 and 27 are welcome by local officials, more still needs to be done, they said.
Upgrades to the interchange began this summer and one of the changes is that travellers heading east on Highway 27 will no longer use a current curving off-ramp to enter the northbound lanes of Highway 2.
Instead, a new intersection at the east side of the interchange allows vehicles to turn left onto a straight ramp that will lead to the northbound Highway 2 lanes.
Bruce Beattie, reeve of Mountain View County, said the on-ramp leading to the northbound lanes of Highway 2 from the interchange is too short for his liking.
"It’s a much better design in terms of safety from the perspective of how it’s set out now, but that northbound acceleration lane in my mind is far too short and it’s just not safe. There’s really no time to accelerate to highway speed. We’re hoping that (Alberta Transportation) will certainly take another look at it because we just don’t think it’s adequate. We’re certainly pleased with the fact that they made the improvements, it’s just that they haven’t quite finished the job as far as we’re concerned," he said.
Beattie said the county not only lobbied in the past for the weaving pattern to be removed from the intersection in favour of a northbound left-turn lane, but also that the new acceleration lanes be sufficiently lengthened to allow traffic merging onto Highway 2 to get up to highway speed.
County councillors Duncan Milne and Jeremy Sayers raised the concern about the acceleration lane during a meeting with Ric McIver, Alberta’s transportation minister, on Nov. 14 during the Alberta Association of Municipal Districts and Counties convention in Edmonton.
"We’re disappointed in that and that’s why we raised it with the minister because we think that’s an important component of that interchange," Beattie said.
Milne said his meeting with McIver was inconclusive on whether or not the northbound acceleration lane will be extended. He said he was pleased that Alberta Transportation decided to lengthen the southbound on-ramp, however.
"Last year when we talked to (Alberta Transportation) I think (the ministry said) it would be put off for at least three years so we’re happy," he said.
Andy Hudson, Alberta Transportation’s construction manager for central Alberta, said nothing more is being planned to lengthen the northbound acceleration lane. While he said the current traffic volume doesn’t warrant further work, Alberta Transportation will monitor the situation.
"Right now there’s no reason to extend it apart from people’s opinion that it’s too short," he said.
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