Despite hopes to have the Main Avenue trial mini roundabouts installed before the Sundre Pro Rodeo, which takes place June 23-25, the pilot project is now actually unlikely to be deployed before July.
Alberta Transportation officials wanted to test new devices that have taken longer to get lined up than originally anticipated, said Jim Hall, the Town of Sundre's operations manager.
However, it is the municipality that's delivering the project through funding and participation with Alberta Transportation, said Stuart Richardson, an engineer and infrastructure manager with the provincial department, which as of last week was waiting for the Town of Sundre's engineering firm to get the project's tender ready.
"The update from earlier this week was that they were waiting on details for the actual roundabout product," he told the Round Up on Wednesday, June 7, referring to brand new durable devices manufactured in the U.S. by a company called Spyder.
"That's what we're waiting on ó details and cost estimates," he said.
Essentially bolted to the asphalt with relative ease and speed, the modular features will be used to make the mini roundabouts. Since the design is modular, any section that might get damaged can be replaced without having to redo the entire traffic circle. And if following the trial period it is determined they don't work, "we'll remove them," he said.
Some people might be concerned that installing Main Avenue's temporary redesign could cause chaos on the road during the summer, but planners have a strategy to minimize the impact on traffic while crews finish the task, said Hall.
Well aware of the type of industrial vehicles that come through during the day, officials are keen to avoid attempting to compete with the heavy load corridor's peak usage period when massive rigs and wide loads frequently lumber through Sundre, he said.
Also, the timeline to complete the project from start to finish is not drawn out. Once the effort to redesign the section of Main Avenue between the Centre Street traffic lights and the western bridge just past the grocery store begins ó probably within the weeks after the rodeo ó work should, weather permitting, be done after about a week's worth of evenings, he said.
The project came about through a several-year-long process of lobbying and collaborating with Alberta Transportation, and will be delivered at no capital cost to the municipality. The traffic circles are going to be trialled for one year and then evaluated before elected officials make a final decision regarding whether to proceed with a permanent design or to return to the drawing board.
So although the temporary mini roundabouts will not be installed before Sundre's highest visitor volume event of the year, they'll still be in place next year to offer an idea about how well they can handle the parade and pro rodeo traffic, said Hall.
