A portion of Main Avenue is slated to be reduced to a two-lane roadway under a pilot project to create a safer place for pedestrians. Temporary barriers are going to be installed along the outside lanes on Main Avenue from Centre Street to 4th Street, reducing the current four lanes down to two, according to Mike Beukeboom, president of the Sundre & District Chamber of Commerce.
“Our number 1 concern is safety. We have to create a barrier between pedestrians and the vehicle traffic,” said Beukeboom. “What we're working towards is creating bulb-outs or curb extensions right from our outside lanes.”
The curb extensions will be “beautified” with shrubs, flowers and trees, he said.
“Essentially in certain areas we're going to move the traffic back into what we call centre lanes, or two lanes as opposed to a four-lane setup,” he said.
“That would create that safety barrier, where it's inviting again and creates a destination for people who want to come and just walk around downtown Sundre.”
He said Alberta Transportation officials turned down his request to reduce the 50 kilometre an hour speed limit on Main Avenue.
“We absolutely cannot. Because it's a two-digit highway, they're not even willing to consider dropping the speed limit. This is the absolute minimum, 50 kilometres per hour,” he said.
“But by introducing traffic calming measures, the speed will reduce itself. It will naturally reduce because we're forcing traffic to slow by merging the traffic together.”
Alberta Transportation officials are in support of the pilot project and are awaiting a formal application, according to spokesperson Nancy Beasley Hosker.
“We will support this pilot project. We do intend to monitor the impact on traffics to determine if this is something that could be permanently implemented,” said Beasley Hosker.
“Moving from pilot to permanent would depend on impact to the traffic flow, congestion and increased delays, as well as an assessment on the safety aspects for all highway users.”
Part of the pilot project is to introduce full-time turning lanes, specifically a left-hand turn for westbound traffic to turn into the post office parking lot, with a right lane for through traffic.
“The big concern obviously will be how do we get our local truck traffic through town as efficiently as possible?” said Beukeboom, adding he has been in discussions with local trucking companies and they are in support of the project.
“I think even the trucking companies are understanding that something has to change – it's not safe.”
He said another priority would be to ensure that traffic volumes are managed in the summer months.
“We're really trying to think through all of those logistics.”
He believes it is an important project for the community.
Since Alberta Transportation officials changed the two-lane avenue to four lanes about six years ago, it has become unsafe for pedestrians, he said.
“It is absolutely absurd that someone is walking down the road and inside of 24 inches a truck mirror passes by your head going anywhere from 40 to 60 kilometres per hour,” he said.
“Those outside lanes cannot handle the big truck traffic and they are constantly breaking up. That creates another safety hazard and that's road debris flying off the road.”
There have been two cases where rocks have flown through windows of businesses on Main Avenue, and people have been hit with debris, mud and water when walking down the street, he said.
For the past few weeks he has been visiting businesses in the pilot project area and asking for signatures in support of the project.
“The response and the support has been literally overwhelming. We are getting 100 per cent sign up for this project, from everyone I have spoken with,” he said, adding he has 29 signatures so far.
“This would not be happening if it wasn't for Alberta Transportation's willingness to help us with this project. So we're very excited about that.”
Sundre council recently granted $25,000 to the Town of Sundre Corridor Enhancement Committee to hire a consultant to create blueprints for the pilot project.
“These monies are to help us develop the permit needed to implement the pilot project,” said Beukeboom.
He believes the project will boost the economy in the downtown core.
“We don't want it to look like a construction zone. We want it to look beautiful and inviting and draw people back to the community and specifically to downtown Sundre.”
He would like to see it finished before winter, but town officials say it will be completed in the spring of 2015.
Chamber of commerce officials held a public information session in August, but there wasn't a large turnout. They will have a booth set up at the Sundre Petroleum Operators Group Neighbour's Day event this Friday.
He is asking residents to provide feedback by calling the Visitor Information Centre at 403-638-3245 or emailing [email protected].
