The traffic lights on Barrhead’s Main Street at the intersection of 51 Avenue and 50 Street will remain in place for a little bit longer.
The traffic control mechanisms were scheduled to be removed by public works staff in mid-June following a Town of Barrhead council decision on May 14.
However, on May 28, councillors unanimously voted to delaying pulling out the stop lights until the town could roll out an education campaign for drivers and pedestrians on the use of four-way stop signs.
That followed the 5-2 defeat of a motion by Coun. Ty Assaf to direct administration to determine the cost of conducting proper traffic impact and safety study. Coun. Dausen Kluin voted in support.
In a separate motion made by mayor Dave McKenzie, councillors instructed administration to find out how much it would cost to replace the current traffic lights with a modern equivalent.
Assaf’s suggestion kicked off 40 minutes of debate about the merits of their previous decision.
“In the last couple of weeks, I have been able to reflect. I still support removing the lights, but I’m not sure we followed the right process,” Assaf said, noting that in the past when the traffic lights failed for any prolonged stretch, it was always during a period of low traffic.
“What I would like us to do is to shut them off for two or three weeks and assess it and see if there is going to be a bottleneck of traffic.”
He added that there seems to be a lot of trepidation from residents about the plan and a test period would help to alleviate some of those fears.
“People are pointing the four-way stop at the Legion [intersection of 51 Street and 51 Avenue] and how long it took people to get used to it, but the traffic there isn’t the same that is on Main Street,” he said.
McKenzie said it would be impossible to accurately assess how traffic would be affected by simply turning the lights off and putting up temporary signage.
“That’s not going to be the full-blown traffic control device,” he said. “It is like saying we can cure your headache but we’re just going to give you aspirin for now. Throwing a four-way stop sign in the middle [of the intersection] isn’t going to tell you how people are going to react to four stop signs on each corner that are highly visible and come with the education package that we will be putting out there.”
McKenzie added the education package would include the research that has been done on the effectiveness of four-way stops.
It should be noted that McKenzie is a former RCMP officer and has worked as a traffic consultant for many years.
“That way people aren’t just reacting. They will have the scientific data on why this will be more effective,” he said.
Later in the meeting, McKenzie said practically anything would be safer than the current lights, including an uncontrolled intersection.
He said because the lights don’t include a pedestrian indicator feature, walkers are constantly caught in the middle of the intersection when the lights change.
McKenzie noted the irregular placement of the lights at the sides of the street rather than over the intersection present danger of driver’s going through yellow and red lights because they don’t notice them.
“I have also made a conscious effort to travel through the intersection during supposed peak times to see if there would be any bottleneck issues and I haven’t seen anything that would change regardless of whether it is a traffic light or a four-way stop,” he said.
On May 14, Assaf and Coun. Rod Klumph expressed concerns about potential traffic congestion during peak times due to the number of pedestrians crossing the street.
Kluin agreed with Assaf saying he would feel more comfortable if they conducted a traffic impact study before making a decision.
“I’m 90 per cent sure that we are doing the right thing, but I want to be able to back up our decision with data,” he said.
McKenzie noted that data already exists and could be included with the public education package.
“But it wouldn’t be about this intersection,” Kluin interjected.
McKenzie responded saying the University of Calgary has done a great deal of research at its Schulich School of Engineering traffic and the data they have collected point to the safety benefits of a four-way stop provides.
“I’m not sure what the confusion is. In the Traffic Safety Act, it clearly explains how pedestrians are supposed to cross the street, how motorists are supposed to deal with pedestrians in a crosswalk, but the most important thing is that it is a shared responsibility,” he said. “It’s not I have the right away so here I go or just because I have a green light doesn’t mean there is a corridor of safety.”
Later on in the meeting, McKenzie suggested that any traffic study wouldn’t contain the information the councillors are wanting, saying that they would base it largely on existing collision and traffic volume statistics.
Coun. Rod Klumph suggested that they should investigate whether they could convert the existing traffic lights into something more modern.
He added he was approached by Colin Kenyon who has worked on the lights and said that for about $5,000 that pedestrian walk indicators could be added and that they could be repositioned so that they were over the driving lane.
Although he respected Kenyon’s abilities, he doubted his estimates are accurate, saying the hardware needed alone would far exceed $5,000.
McKenzie added if council decided to replace the lights it would have to be with new, modern equipment.
Coun. Leslie Penny agreed, the four-way stop was the way to go, adding that concerns about congestion have been overblown.
“I have driven through that intersection at all times of day and night and how many times have I been forced to wait at a red light with no one around me,” she said, adding the question councillors need to ask themselves is what’s the worst thing that could happen.
Kluin said an accident causing death or serious injury.
Penny doubted that.
“I come from the city and I am surprised we don’t have carnage in this community because of the way people drive. Somehow we survive and our kids on bicycles that ride on the wrong side of the street they seem to survive, so I don’t think we are going to kill someone because we put in a four-way stop,” she said, adding she agreed with the mayor that a four-way stop would improve safety by forcing everyone to be more attentive.
McKenzie concluded by saying he wouldn’t be advocating for the four-way stop as strongly as is if he didn’t believe it was the safest solution.
“Bottom line, is the lights we have are not working for us. They are not safe. Four-way stops work because they force everyone to stop and be attentive to their surroundings,” he said.
