Some Sundre residents have recently been perplexed by the appearance of double solid yellow lines on Main Avenue east of the traffic lights.
According to Alberta’s road rules, motorists are prohibited from making a left turn against double solid yellow lines, which in this case effectively restricts east-bound drivers from accessing businesses on the north side of Main Avenue, while west-bound drivers can no longer access the gas station on the south side of the street.
Coun. Rob Wolfe brought the issue up for discussion during the June 4 meeting.
“There’s been a lot of talk about the east-west by Country Road RV and Fas Gas, where it’s a double line,” said Wolfe.
The councillor asked administration how motorists are supposed to access those businesses if they are not allowed to turn left across the double lines.
“Myself, our peace officer and the RCMP — they called me — are chasing down Alberta Transportation to get this corrected, because it is a permitted left and it should be a single line,” said Jim Hall, Sundre’s operations manager.
Also responding to a previous council inquiry about recently applied paint that was already fading, Hall said there had been a “poor mix” and that the contractor was to come back to re-do the job.
Coun. Todd Dalke also wondered whether clarification could be obtained from Alberta Transportation officials regarding the double solids that extend all the way east of town towards the bottom of the hill.
“You can’t get out of my place either, legally,” said the councillor, who also owns and operates the local Fountain Tire.
“It should go single line,” said Hall, adding the situation would be rectified as soon as possible.
Chief administrative officer Linda Nelson said there were a few issues regarding the line painting along Main Avenue, and suggested preparing a report for council on how those matters will be resolved.
Mayor Terry Leslie said members of council have heard many people in the community express questions and concerns about the situation, and that a report would be helpful to address some of the issues.
“This is an issue that was brought up by the affected businesses when this was first painted last year before winter,” said Kirk Kwan, Alberta Transportation infrastructure engineer.
While the contractor had been instructed to paint a single solid line east of the traffic lights, an error was made, Kwan confirmed by email.
“They’ve been told to fix this and will be grinding out the (double) line.”
