With concerns increasing about the safety of two intersections along Highway 1, city council plans to push the provincial government to take action to ensure motorists can travel safely through those areas.
During its Oct. 24 regular meeting, council voted unanimously to have city hall communicate with the Government of Saskatchewan caucus that it should install traffic lights quickly at the intersection of Highway 1 and Ninth Avenue Northwest because of safety and economic growth issues.
Moreover, it voted 4-3 to urge the province to consider adding traffic lights at Highway 1 and Thatcher Drive East to the Highway 1—Moose Jaw Corridor Planning Study.
In favour were Mayor Clive Tolley and councillors Jamey Logan, Kim Robinson and Heather Eby. Opposed were councillors Crystal Froese, Dawn Luhning and Doug Blanc.
Council also voted unanimously to have city hall and the Highway 1 North Service Road Business Owners group organize a town hall meeting and invite the minister of Highways, other business stakeholders, the chamber of commerce, other municipalities and first responders to talk and develop a public awareness campaign.
The minister's response
After council approved a motion on Sept. 26 authorizing city hall to notify the ministry about the need for temporary traffic lights at those intersections, the minister responded on Oct. 19 and agreed that safety is important, explained city manager Jim Puffalt.
However, the minister pointed to the ongoing completion of a corridor planning study and said while traffic lights would be considered, there would be no immediate installation.
“We were a little dismayed to have that type of (unreasonable) response,” said Puffalt, considering the intersections — especially at Ninth Avenue Northwest and Highway 1 — have been a safety concern for years.
He pointed out that since 2010, 37 collisions and 30 injuries have occurred near that intersection. In 2016, there were seven collisions and 10 injuries alone.
He noted that it’s only a matter of time before something more serious happens because almost 7,000 vehicles move through their daily. Meanwhile, almost 10,000 vehicles moved through the intersection at Highway 1 and Thatcher Drive East.
The whole corridor will soon come under more strain because of the increased economic activity in Moose Jaw, Puffalt said.
Donald’s Fine Foods is building a sow processing plant at Caribou Street West and 24th Avenue Northwest; Brand Industries will soon produce trailers at its plant near Highway 1; commercial land is being developed near Ninth Avenue Northwest; work continues on the Great Plains Power Station; and food processors are interested in the agri-food industrial park.
Moose Jaw has attracted almost $1 billion in investment during the past four years and almost 600 jobs during the past two years and over the next three years, he claimed.
“Moose Jaw is a major economic development driver for the Province of Saskatchewan,” Puffalt said. “We need a hand … before somebody gets killed at that intersection.”
Council discussion
That intersection is a “death trap,” but the province wants to continue studying it, Mayor Clive Tolley said. The province should install lights now and then study the intersection to ensure everyone’s safety.
Besides safety, business owners on the North Service Road are also concerned about the negative economic effects on their shops, said Coun. Crystal Froese. Customers tend to go around that crossing, while employees hesitate to use it.
The business owners’ frustrations during the meeting with the minister were palpable, she continued. Moreover, she sits on the South Central Transportation Committee and that group has raised this issue with four highways ministers — to no result.
“It baffles me why they won’t do something. That letter we received (from the minister on Oct. 19) didn’t even indicate that they were going to make right turns illegal to even alleviate some of the stress on that intersection,” Froese said. “Or even improving the road that merges onto the highway going west … it’s in terrible shape … .”
The ministry has put this issue on the backburner — since at least 2019 — and has declined to work on it with staff at city hall seriously, she added. Adding lights is a reasonable option to address safety concerns in a short period.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Nov. 14.
