County of Barrhead councillors are not impressed with the information, or lack thereof, from Alberta Transportation with regards to the newly installed high-tension cable barrier systems throughout the municipality.
At their regular meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 16, councillors agreed to send a letter to the Ministry of Transportation expressing their concern over the potential road safety hazards.
“We have been discussing this issue for over a month, but we couldn’t do anything until we had heard from Alberta Transportation — the affected roadways are a provincial matter and not a county one, but it is time a letter was sent to the minister of transportation,” Lee said, adding council remains concerned with the narrowness of the roads affected.
“We expressed our concerns to Alberta Transportation and they said they are looking into it, but they are of the position these barriers are more beneficial and safer than other systems.”
Coun. Bill Lane, whose constituents are affected along Highway 18, said Alberta Transportation’s answer to him with regards to the decision to put HTCBs in place was that it was more cost-effective.
Lane made the motion to send the letter.
“According to them it is cheaper than back sloping some ditches,” he said, adding at eight mile corner, the barriers are only on one side of the road despite the fact the ditch is equally steep on either side.
Coun. Ron Kleinfeldt agreed.
“I think these are more dangerous than anything else they [Alberta Transportation] have had there,” he said, adding the barriers currently located between Highways 654 and 651, are in a low spot in a hilly area.
“If somebody is on it and they’re using the whole road, drivers coming the other way are going to have a heck of a time slowing down and avoiding a collision,” Kleinfeldt added.
“We haven’t received anything from Alberta Transportation other than their vague statements,” Lee said. “The issue is that these are being put in, not just in our municipality, but in every municipality all across the province and we feel that this situation is a ticking time-bomb before there is a disaster.”
As county residents themselves, Lee said council shares the concerns of many of their constituents.
“If Alberta Transportation says these are OK, that’s not the right answer,” he said. “We do not think it is ok. These are a safety issue in our minds. Rural Albertans will be moving a lot of equipment down these roads in the coming weeks and I’d rather we get ahead of this than lag behind.”
High-tension cable barriers are a newly implemented system in which steel cables are affixed to poles in the asphalt and are designed to cradle vehicles that go off-road, according to Alberta Transportation’s Michael Botros.
