Focus remains on making Highway 43 safer, with ideas for drivers and pedestrians

The Town of Whitecourt is looking at ways to enhance safety along the Highway 43 corridor. The recent restart of the Transportation Advisory Committee is one of the initiatives. The Transportation Advisory Committee includes representatives from the trucking industry, community and MLA Martin Long. On September 16, a community engagement evening was held to kickstart the committee and was attended by Mayor Tom Pickard and Whitecourt RCMP Staff Sargent Ted Zadderey.

The committee’s purpose is to provide a place to discuss ways to make the community safer, including how vehicles and pedestrians travel throughout Whitecourt. As one of the hosts for the community engagement evening, Mayor Pickard provided a summary to the Protective Services Committee meeting in October.

During the November 14 regular meeting, Whitecourt Town Council saw the comments back from the Protective Services Committee. Twelve topics were sent to the Protective Services Committee, and the group provided comments for each.

“There’s a few that have been left with the MLA. There’s a few that Administration is following up on and will bring those forward to Council at appropriate times,” explained CAO Peter Smyl. Mayor Pickard said that MLA Martin Long is “very much involved and very supportive” of the initiatives. “I’ve had conversations with our MLA, and he is meeting with Alberta Transportation people in the city to move these requests forward, and I expect to hear from him shortly on any of the ones listed as MLA involved.”

Items that include MLA Long’s support included having better compliance with the current speed limits. The notes from the Protective Services Committee said, “the request has been submitted to the Province for the “Your Speed” signs to be installed at the east and west entrance to Whitecourt along Highway 43.” MLA Long is said to have forwarded the request to Alberta Transportation for consideration. As for the current speed, the committee discussed lowering it but felt that compliance would be improved with the installation of the “Your Speed” signs.

Another topic that MLA Long supported is the discussion around an additional set of lights. “This has been a discussion item for the Town of Whitecourt for several years, and the Town continues to advocate for a controlled traffic intersection at 33 Street and Highway 43,” read the notes. Putting in lights, should it be completed, would be a shared cost between the Province and the Town of Whitecourt.

Other issues include the intersection of Pine Road/Caxton Street at Starbucks. Concerns were raised at the September engagement session about inconsistent traffic flow, large trucks crossing the intersection to access the side road, campers using the Sani dump site across from Dairy Queen, sightlines, and congestion during peak times. “We all agreed at that meeting that there are problems at that intersection. We want (the) Planning and Development Department to look at it first on possible solutions for us to consider,” said Mayor Pickard.

The Sani dump was also one of the twelve issues raised. “It was suggested that the Sani dump station located on Caxton Street (across the street from Dairy Queen) be decommissioned and that RV traffic be encouraged to use other locations throughout Whitecourt, including the Sani dump at the Forest Interpretive Centre. This has been passed on to the Infrastructure Services Department for consideration,” the notes read.

Having wait sequences synchronized at traffic-controlled intersections for improved traffic flow was also brought forward. In the meeting, it was also mentioned that some lights on Highway 43 pause between the countdown light on the crosswalk reaching 0 and the lights changing to yellow and then red. At the same time, other intersections don’t have a wait and the light switches to yellow immediately following the countdown on the crosswalk. Notes stated that Administration had reached out to Alberta Transportation regarding wait times in the countdown sequences.

Another topic raised is having separate traffic signals for left-turning traffic, similar to the lights at Mayerthorpe. “MLA Long is aware of the discussion surrounding this topic and will be discussing the suggestion with Alberta Transportation,” read the notes. Other topics included better lighting around main intersections, support for red light cameras, a more consistent layout in intersections, and an update on the status of the Bypass Study released in 2014, which outlined the Province’s plans for Highway 43 in Whitecourt.

Councillor Derek Schlosser asked about one of the points around more enforcement of traffic laws. “Were they specifically talking about RCMP enforcement along Highway 43 in terms of speed and (having) more presence?” Mayor Pickard said it was a recommendation from the Transportation Advisory Committee meeting that there be more police presence on the highway. “The request was to the local detachment that when they had time and when duties permit it, to increase the enforcement of traffic laws.”

Mayor Pickard recounted a recent conversation in the meeting. “I think it should be noteworthy to council that there was a day where they (RCMP) had some extra members (out), and they had three complaints that there was too much enforcement. I’m not sure what too much enforcement is, but if you’re following and in compliance with the law, it wouldn’t really matter how much enforcement there was.”

Whitecourt Town Council voted unanimously to recognize the update from the Protective Services Committee and accept it as information. Updates will be brought forward as feedback is received, and the Mayor and the Protective Services Committee will contact MLA Long to stay on top of the points raised.