Is there a better way the City can help navigate westsiders home?
By Lethbridge Herald on January 8, 2025.
POINT OF VIEW
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Living on the westside of Lethbridge has many benefits, but it comes with the challenge of being able to actually get back home whenever an accident takes place on Whoop Up Drive.
On Wednesday, as I was heading to take the last photo of the day for the Lethbridge Herald, at around 4:45 p.m. I noticed 6 Ave South was backed up and a Lethbridge Police Service truck was headed towards Whoop-Up Drive.
At that point, I (and probably dozens of other drivers) knew I’d have to take a different route home if I wanted to make it there in time to pick up my daughter from the BLAST program at her school.
On my way back downtown, I decided to take 4 Ave South instead of 6 Ave South, and then turn onto 7 Street South as I usually do, because 6 Ave South was still backed up all the way to 13 Street. After work, I decided to head out to Highway 3 via Stafford Drive, but when I reached the set of lights by the Lethbridge Public Library, Stafford Drive was also backed up for blocks, with traffic at a standstill as others tried to avoid the bottleneck.
And, like all those other drivers, I had a decision to make.
So I turned back onto 6 Ave South, but this time to head east toward Mayor Magrath Drive, in the hopes I’d be able to reach Highway 3. But it was then that I realized I’d need to put gas in my car if I was going to make it home, not knowing how long it would take.
I drove to the Co-op gas station on 43 Street South, trying to figure out if I should just go to Coaldale and Picture Butte to reach the westside, as the deadline to pick up my daughter was rapidly approaching.
After filling up my car, I decided to take Highway 3 back to the westside and it turned out to be a good decision. Even though there was a lot of traffic, it was flowing continuously.
Until the merge lane just before the entrance to Tollestrup Construction, that is.
Even though many drivers were properly zipper-merging, which is something many don’t do when the situation calls for it, the delay was due to traffic trying to get onto Bridge Drive and having to stop whenever the traffic light at the top of the hill turned red.
This ended up being the longest part of my journey; it took me about 20 minutes, which cranked my anxiety up to about a million. Not only was I running late to pick up my daughter, but other vehicles around me were bumper to bumper and I was worried about getting into an accident.
At that moment I had no way to turn back – I was stuck in traffic. I finally reached my daughter at 6:15 p.m., which meant her caretakers had to wait an extra 15 minutes pat deadline. Thankfully, they were more than understanding.
One of the caregivers told me that her husband was already home for a while, as Whoop-Up Drive had opened back up shortly after 5. And yet I was stuck in traffic for way longer than that, trying to get to my daughter.
To say that Tuesday night’s journey to the westside was stressful would be the understatement of the year.
My daughter was worried about me, since this was the first time I was late picking her up. She was also wanting to go to her Tae-Kwon-Do class on the north side at 6:45 p.m. but the traffic delays made it impossible to have enough time to do that since we still needed to have supper first.
Unfortunately, this was only one of many times I’ve been stuck on “the other side of the river” due to traffic issues on Whoop-Up. Luckily, there were no accidents on the highway this time around, as so often happens after a collision on Whoop-Up. It seems as if the first accident all but guarantees the second, considering how often it happens.
With the population in the westside of Lethbridge continuing to increase, there has to be a better way to make sure all of us westsiders can get home within a reasonable time on a regular basis. Would that be a third way in and out of the westside? Would that be better traffic control whenever there is an accident on Whoop Up Drive or Highway 3 to avoid bottleneck situations that potentially paralyze the entire city as main roads get backed up?
I don’t know the answer to those questions, but I definitely know I’m not the only one in Lethbridge asking them.
20-19
Best idea is to sell the Lethbridge Exhibitionfiasco building for a $1 and start saving for a new bridge to the Westside?
Include that waste of an airport and I think you’ve got something. $1 for both , don’t want to overpay .
This is yet another indication of poor long term planning in Alberta. There’s this problem, the mess by Coalhurst, Kipp…..We are noticing re: heavy traffic/dense population in The Netherlands, for example, there are now, many traffic circles. Not sure if that would be solution here but it sure got rid of many traffic lights, i.e. the repeated stopping at red lights there.
It’s another reminder that if we had collected fair royalties on our oil and gas industry over the years, we could have had $100s of billions in our Heritage Trust Fund which would have well funded another bridge re: the westside and many other infrastructure, education and health care projects, for the benefit of all.
It’s not an “Alberta” problem. Forget the BC Lower Mainland where successive governments have yet to solve the Dease Tunnel fiasco. Just look at the Island Highway with 22 stop lights between Victoria and Campbell River. Apparently they forgot to include overpasses when they costed out the whole thing.
i say this respectful of the needs of people in relation to the needs of all our natural world: stop destroying what little is left of the natural world in west lethbridge; this will reduce human traffic, and save a little space for other living entities that need space and provide health and balance to the big picture.
I want what you’re smoking.
As long as there is an orange dot at Lethbridge on a mostly blue political map, there isn’t a snowball’s chance of provincial help with a new bridge. Figure it out, Westies…..
They don’t help anyways and never have. Look at the COVID years!
There were 2 separate accidents westbound on Whoop-up that day and it isn’t because of us needing a third bridge, it is because of the inconsiderate drivers who think that they are above the rules and regulations of the road many of us still follow and speed or make erratict lane changes, causing accidents.
There are too many accidents on Whoop-up drive because of these drivers and they impact the rest of our lives often as we try to go to work or return home! Then, people rush to get home on Highway 3 and get into an accident, causing countless others to suffer, because of their inconsiderate acts. I was one of those stuck in ‘parking lot’ traffic on Whoop-up that day and I was very frustrated.
When the speed is 60 kph, and I do that speed many ride my bumper or fly by me, careless of what they could cause! Yet, when police fine them, they cry fowl. No mercy from me after being caught in multiple traffic jams.
Throw the book at them and make examples of them!
I completely agree with the frustration around reckless driving and its role in causing so many of the issues on Whoop-Up Drive. Enforcement needs to be a bigger part of the solution—not just for speeding and erratic lane changes but also for the sheer number of illegal vehicles on the road.
Front tinted windows, modified lights, and other infractions seem to go unnoticed while the rest of us follow the rules. When enforcement is lax, it sends the message that these behaviours are acceptable, and it puts everyone else at risk.
It’s clear we need both immediate action, like stricter enforcement of road rules and vehicle standards, and long-term solutions, such as better infrastructure, to handle increasing traffic. Without both, we’ll just be stuck in this same frustrating cycle every time there’s an accident or backup.
You are completely right. It wouldn’t matter if there were four lanes each way and a 3rd bridge as well. People driving like idiots is what is causing all the issues and as anyone know more roads don’t make the problem go away. I never have an issue with whoop up unless someone is in an accident because they did something careless. If anyone has lived literally anywhere else that is larger than Lethbridge you know bloody well that we don’t have enough traffic to justify a 3rd bridge. People need to stop feeling so entitled and realize the requirements and the cost associated with such a thing and the other people need to drive responsibly. Beyond that, if people can’t get past those aspects and bothers someone so much then move to the east side.