Next spring, a new roadside crosswalk flasher could be installed near the Iron Bridge neighbourhood entrance, making it easier for residents to access that area.
The City of Moose Jaw’s engineering services department plans to construct the crosswalk flasher on Simcoe Street’s north side since this location offers good sightlines that allow vehicles to come to a stop, a city council report explained. The stopping sight distance of 200 metres is also considered adequate at the current road speed of 60 kilometres per hour.
The project was initially to have occurred by February but was delayed to sometime in the spring, after the contractor had supply issues acquiring the materials, according to city hall.
During the Nov. 23 regular meeting, council voted to receive and file the report about this project as part of the public works advisory committee minutes. The report will likely come back in the new year for approval.
The municipality has been working with Traffic Solutions Consulting Ltd. to provide design and construction oversight for this project, explained the report. The consulting firm has provided construction drawings and a report that outlines the thinking behind the crossing selection.
In that report, the firm reviewed and compared two types of crosswalk flashers: roadside and overhead.
The roadside flasher was considered inexpensive, with a construction cost of $27,000, had a shorter installation time of one to two days, was suitable for the road speed, was suitable for two-lane roadways and could satisfy the sight distance.
The overhead flasher was more expensive, with a construction cost of $40,000, took three weeks to install, was suitable for the road speed, was more suitable for multi-lane roads and could be seen much further away.
“The roadside crosswalk flashers appear to be the more favourable option, mainly due to lower construction costs and shorter construction time … ,” the report said.
If a 200-metre sightline is provided, the flashers would satisfy the decision sight distance criteria, allowing alert, competent drivers to come to a quick stop under ordinary circumstances, said the report. The design criteria are useful in situations such as:
- complex interchanges and intersections;
- locations where unusual or unexpected manoeuvres occur;
- locations where significant changes to the roadway cross-sections are made;
- areas where there are many demands on motorists’ decision-making capabilities from road elements, traffic control devices, advertising, and other traffic; and
- construction zones.
For the proposed Iron Bridge Drive and Thatcher Drive crosswalk flasher project, criteria one, two and four exist. This means the decision sight distance needs to be met since there are offsetting intersections, unusual or unexpected manoeuvres, and multiple road and traffic control device elements, said the report.
The flashing amber lights would be mounted 3.5 metres above the ground, making them visible more than 200 metres away in both directions on Thatcher Drive, the report added. These sightlines would also meet the decision sight distance criteria. Moreover, the speed limit could remain at 60 km/h.
The next regular council meeting will be on Monday, Dec. 7.
