SUNDRE – The municipality will not be footing the bill to install a safety beacon on the Foothills Terrace condominium’s underground parking nor approve enhanced enforcement patrols for the one-way back alley.
Providing some background information, Linda Nelson, chief administrative officer, said the issue dates back to November 2016 when the council of the day initially approved the condo association’s request to turn the back alley located north of Highway 27-Main Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Streets NW into an eastbound one-way lane to address safety concerns.
The matter was back before council late last year when association representatives expressed ongoing safety concerns, and installing a set of flashing lights to warn passing motorists in the alley that someone is pulling out was brought up.
The association had since applied for a roughly $4,500 grant to help the condo’s residents install a safety beacon or flashing lights on the building to notify passing motorists travelling through the back alley that someone is egressing from the underground parking, Nelson told council on June 26 during the last regular meeting before the summer hiatus.
“The request to fund the safety beacon was refused,” said Nelson. “However, council was not opposed to the condominium (association) installing the beacon at their own cost.”
The matter was originally raised as a result of multiple concerns including speeding motorists, dust, increased traffic, as well as the lack of safety for condo residents as they drive out from the parkade.
“The dust was taken care of when staff put millings and chip seal in that back alley,” said Nelson.
“I’m not sure if it has done anything for speeding vehicles or increased amounts of traffic,” she said. “The one-way lane I believe has had a little bit of a different effect than we were contemplating. So, we have now had many, many concerns voiced to us from some of the residents of the condominium that the one-way traffic is not being complied with.”
A survey of all the adjacent landowners was conducted for their feedback as well, she said.
“The results that came back were kind of surprising,” she said. “There was one business that really didn’t have any concerns either way, whether it was a one-way or two-way, and for the rest it was fairly equal. So, it didn’t really help us at all.”
Concluding her report on the file, Nelson said administration was seeking direction from council with respect to the expected level of service on the lane in terms of bylaw enforcement.
Sundre mayor Richard Warnock pointed out the lane is the only one-way alley in town.
“So, sometimes people aren’t even thinking when they’re turning the corner,” said Warnock, who wondered aloud whether drivers even notice the sign or if they simply choose to ignore it.
Secondly, the businesses along Highway 27-Main Avenue that back onto the one-way alley are also affected, the mayor said.
“And we certainly don’t need residents of Sundre stopping someone going to the restaurant or the bank saying, ‘You’re going the wrong way,’” he said. “That’s not their job.”
The mayor added that he believes motorists who are backing out of their garage on any other road in town bear the same responsibility of safely pulling out as do the residents egressing from the condo’s parkade.
“If they wish to put up lights . . . to warn the traffic that they’re backing out, that’s fine. All of us could do that on our garage if we so choose,” he said. “But it’s not necessary that we have a peace officer enforce that, or that the municipality pays for it.”
Many other residents in the community would also like to see the peace officer dedicate more time to their own streets as well as the Centre Street school zone, and everyone deserves the same level of consideration and service, he said.
Coun. Chris Vardas said the dust issue was dealt with, and agreed with the mayor’s assessment in that the lane is the only one-way alley in town, which can cause issues for businesses when shipments arrive in large delivery trucks.
“I’m all for turning it back to two-way,” said Vardas. “And the beacon part it should be part of the condo’s responsibility to do it; not our own, not our taxpayers…we did as much as we possibly can.”
Vardas later added the many potholes in Sundre’s back alleys serve to slow down the speeders and added the peace officer or police cannot always be expected to exclusively enforce a single lane.
Coun. Owen Petersen argued against returning the back alley to a two-way lane as the businesses were evenly split either way.
“The one-way is one more tool for our peace officer – or the RCMP, they also have jurisdiction on that back alley – to enforce that,” said Petersen.
Coun. Connie Anderson said, “I’m dead against doing anything but taking the one-way out.”
Elaborating his position, Anderson said some of the condo’s residents don’t even adhere with the one-way and come out into the back alley going the wrong way. He added they have enough room to manoeuvre after pulling into their stalls to drive out facing forward.
“So, they can see,” he said. “Put the beacon up and let’s be done with it.”
Following a brief discussion on whether to entertain a motion reverting the alley back to the original two-way lane, Nelson reminded council the direction sought by administration was specifically with regards to the expected level of service.
“That’s not to say that our peace officer doesn’t monitor that,” she said. “He just doesn’t monitor it for hours on end.”
The mayor favoured consistency and said the back alley should receive the same level of service as any other.
Council proceeded to unanimously pass a motion directing administration to maintain the same level of service in the back alley.
Following a subsequent discussion on whether to restore the two-way lane, council carried a motion – with Petersen opposed – to bring back the item for further consideration during the fall workshop.
