Committee recommends new Transportation Safety Plan be sent for council vote
By Tim Kalinowski on June 9, 2021.
Herald file photo -
Traffic makes its way through the newly opened roundabout in 2017 at the intersection of Whoop-Up Drive and Métis Trail West. A recommended Transportation Safety Plan suggests the City include more roundabouts and variable speed limit zones to slow traffic down, along with better road and intersection design to help inhibit speed.LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com
The City of Lethbridge took one more step toward creating safer streets for vehicle and pedestrian traffic alike as the Civic Works Standing Policy Committee of city council recommended unanimously that the new Transportation Safety Plan be sent for a final vote to city council at its next regular meeting.
The reason the plan is needed is because Lethbridge has one of the highest annual serious injury rates from vehicle accidents among cities its size in the province, SPC members were told.
Among the recommendations contained in the plan include more roundabouts and variable speed limit zones to slow traffic down, and better road and intersection design to help inhibit speed. The plan sets an ambitious goal to reduce accidents which cause serious injury or death in the City 50 per cent by 2030 on the way toward a zero per cent target by 2040.
The plan also intends to try to cut down on distracted driving by increasing education on the importance of people turning off or disabling cell phones while driving.
The plan was first presented to the Civic Works SPC back in February, but SPC members felt it was important to get feedback from BILD Lethbridge on the ramifications of the plan, particularly when it comes to increasing the number of roundabouts in the city.
SPC members were informed roundabouts are generally not favoured by developers in all circumstances because they take up too much real estate and sometimes make corner lots abutting roundabouts harder to sell. BILD wanted to see fully flushed out guidelines as to when, where and why the proposed roundabouts would be constructed.
“We did have this workshop on roundabouts and had a good conversation about how we move forward with those, and our concerns about around it just being a default, and having a more holistic look at where these are placed based on guidelines that are yet to be developed,” said BILD Lethbridge executive officer Bridget Mearns, who addressed committee members at Tuesday’s meeting. “Our concern was this being in a plan when these guidelines had not yet been developed.”
Noting BILD’s concerns, and changes made in the master document which agree to further consultation with the development industry on the siting of future roundabouts, the Civic Works Standing Policy Committee recommended the Transportation Safety Plan be adopted by city council.
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This project is unsubstantiated hysteria. Just another excuse to spend money we do not have to fix a problem that does not exist. Like its current flurry of hugely expensive and unsupported CIP, MDP and other Master Plans. Methinks Council and City Management are rushing to get their ideology embedded before they get voted out this October. The City quotes no current data in this Transportation report or recommendations. It used 2012-2016 data that actually showed Lethbridge performed better than peers, while sadly experiencing 11 deaths (but with a downward trend) over that period. Only 104 citizens views were sought and no evidence shows even those were addressed. So – no apparent driver or citizen input just hi-faluting millennial era theory justifying spending millions to create artificial driving congestion and consequent frustration and road rage. All to discourage efficient transport, waste more fossil fuel and driver time, while attempting to drive citizens onto its unused and unwanted buses, cyclepaths or … couches. Where is the objective and useful newsman in this Herald parroting of City propaganda?
The message is clear – the City does not care about its citizens (other than their wallets), much less the responsible use of fossil fuels to maximize their quality of life. Vote these suckers out and replace them with strong common-sense accountable leaders. Then clean house. Or…do our existing politicians actually reflect our citizens’ ethics, morality and priorities? I HOPE NOT! Vote in October.