By Justine Kelsie

Construction to change vehicle accessibility on 102 Street near bypass

May 23, 2018 | 3:28 PM

Crews will begin working on some new additions to 102 Street north of the bypass in the next few weeks. 

Capital Planning and Construction Manager Matt Hinton says construction starts at the end of May or beginning of June. The city is building a boulevard down the centre of 102 Street which would block access to some businesses on 117 Avenue.

“It was recommended to put something there to try and alleviate some of the congestion with the people wanting to turn left to go onto the service road. One of the recommendations was to put in an island,” said Hinton.

Drivers will only be able to turn right onto 102 Street from 117 Avenue as well as turn right onto 117 Avenue from 102 Street.

The Manager explains that they did look at other options including a round-a-bout, but there wasn’t enough room for it to function. He says a second set of lights wouldn’t work in the area either. 

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“It is too close to the other intersection at 116 Avenue. Traffic would cue up too much and would back up to 117 Avenue causing more issues, especially with a set of signals.”

Last week, the turn signals were activated at the intersection of 116 Avenue and 102 Street to avoid congestion. 

Traffic patterns in the area are bound to change, but as a business owner in the area, Mr. Mikes Steakhouse owner Brad Richards says they aren’t too worried about the construction.

“It is not ideal for sure, but it is part of being in a growing economy. That is a plus, we are such a fortunate city to be this busy. The intersection gets plugged up two or three times a day. There is certainly some safety concerns and I certainly see why a meridian had to be put in place,” said Richards. 

“We have been growing for years and we have to get used to being a bigger city. It is part of the growing pains.” 

As a business that has been around for 14 years, Richards says they won’t have to worry too much about getting customers in. He says it will be about educating people to use the Co-op intersection at 105 Street. 

“The city and province will be putting up signage to help direct people a little bit better so it isn’t such a shock coming around the bend.”

In August, the city reallocated $400,000 from Capital Tax for the upgrades to the intersection.