Martensville City Council is looking to increase safety for pedestrians crossing Centennial Drive North.
Council voted at its meeting on Tuesday, March 21 to approve the installation of a temporary mid-block crosswalk between Main Street and 3rd Street North. The crosswalk would include pavement markings, warning signs for motorists, pedestrian-activated flashing crosswalk lights and a raised “pedestrian refuge median” in the centre turning lane.
The temporary crosswalk will be evaluated after one year. Feedback from area businesses and other stakeholders will be gathered at that time and a decision will be made by council on whether to make it permanent.
The city will install the temporary crosswalk this spring. It will be 345 meters north of Main Street at a point adjacent to the Co-op grocery store on the west side, and the Checkered Flag Automotive shop on the east side, of Centennial Drive North. The location was chosen by engineering firm Stantec as part of a traffic study conducted last year for the city. Currently there are traffic lights at the intersection of Centennial Drive and Main Street; and Centennial Drive and 3rd Avenue North; but it’s a very long stretch between those two crossings.
In a report to the March 21 council meeting, Martensville Infrastructure and Planning Director Matt Gruza said the proposed design of the crosswalk also includes some changes to three driveways of businesses closest to the site. The driveways would be modified to restrict left turns out of the parking lots.
“Traffic would still be able to enter the parking lots from Centennial Drive with a right-turn, and exit the parking lots with a right-turn onto Centennial Drive,” he said. “Each of the three properties affected by the modified access have an additional driveway access which would remain unaffected.”
Three businesses responded to consultation packages issued by the city regarding the proposed crosswalk. One response from Crystal Clear Developments was in favour of the proposal. Two other responses, one from Lakeview Insurance and the other from Checkered Flag Automotive, suggested an overhead pedestrian bridge would be a safer alternative than a crosswalk; noting that the proposal restricts access to their parking lots and will likely impair their customers’ ability to access their premises. There were also concerns raised about visibility of pedestrians at night and during inclement weather, and the implications of impeding the flow of traffic along Centennial Drive North, particularly at peak times.
Martensville City Councillor and Deputy Mayor Jamie Martens said a pedestrian overpass bridge is an extremely expensive proposition that the city cannot afford at this time. She added that while she’s in support of the proposed pedestrian crosswalk, she wanted assurances that the pedestrian refuge median would not seriously disrupt traffic flow, and echoed concerns about the visibility of pedestrians at night. Gruza responded that the flashing lights are very visible when they’re activated, but it’s up to pedestrians to press the button. He added that there will be flashing lights at both ends of the crosswalk, as well as a third one in the median. All three lights will have buttons to activate them.
Martensville City Councillor Darren MacDonald asked if the installation of the crosswalk would limit parallel parking along Centennial Drive North.
“The short answer is ‘yes’,” responded Gruza, noting one of the recommendations coming out of last year’s traffic study was the “transition to no parking” along the busy thoroughfare. That issue will be on the agenda at a future council meeting.
CURLING CLUB LIGHTS
Martensville City Council also voted at its March 21 meeting to approve the installation of LED lighting in the city’s curling club facility on a cost-share basis. The city will pay 60% of the $5,500 price tag, while the Martensville Curling Club, which operates the building, will pay 40%.
POND ICE TESTING
Also at the March 21 meeting, council voted to update its policy on the recreational use of storm water ponds. The primary change is that once the ice has reached a safe thickness to support recreational activities, as outlined in the policy, the fire department will no longer be obliged to check the thickness on a weekly basis. Instead, the fire department will check the thickness when appropriate given weather and temperature factors. Another change to the policy is that temporary portable pop-up ice fishing shacks will be allowed.