Town to hit province hard about left turning lights on Main Street

The intersection taped off following the collision on June 14.

Mayor Elisa Brosseau says her and town council will advocate for left turning lights at Main Street intersections, following the death of a pedestrian. 

On June 14 at the 50th Avenue and 46 Street intersection, a busy and congested area during prime drive time hours, a 78-year-old woman was killed as a result of a collision. 

Main Street is under the jurisdiction of the province as it’s a highway, both Highway 28 and Highway 659. 

The incident has brought the issue of left turning lights to alleviate congestion back to the forefront. 

“Council feels strongly that it is becoming more and more of a safety hazard, especially with this most recent incident. It doesn’t mean we haven’t seen the past incidents and motor vehicle accidents and thought we need to do something, and we thought we needed to do something. This really is pushing it to the forefront,” Brosseau said on The Morning After. 

“I’ve talked with council, and we are in favour of hitting the province hard on doing something, adding left-turning lights. We’d also like to see an intersection over on the west end of town where we have a lot more development. Tim Hortons, Neighbourhood Inn. We’re just starting. I know one of my councilors spoke with MLA Scott Cyr yesterday, and it’s an issue that he’s been aware of for a long time. We’re going to hit this hard and need to see some changes.” 

Brosseau said this is done by getting a meeting with the Transportation Minister, which is currently Devin Dreeshen. 

“We’re going to go all the way to the top, and we’re going to be loud about it. Any opportunity we get to be in front of the minister or anyone in transportation, that’s going to be the number one thing we talk about. It’s not cheap, and the lights on the east end of town were something the town saved up to do. Those are our lights that we paid for, and we’re looking at a quarter-million dollars just to put up a set of lights. That’s why it’s not something we’re ready to jump on and do since it’s the responsibility of the province. But it mainly involves getting those meetings and continuing to talk the talk.” 

The RCMP say there is no update at this time in their investigation of the collision.