North Battleford Mayor Ryan Bater at council's recent meeting. Council discussed the downtown redesign work impact on intersections. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

In the chambers

Downtown redesign shouldn’t impede turning vehicles: Study

Mar 27, 2019 | 12:39 PM

Drivers worried about how the North Battleford planned downtown redesign will impact vehicles turning at 100 Street were reassured this shouldn’t be a problem according to a study presented at city council’s recent meeting.

City Planning and Development Director Jennifer Niesink presented the Urban Systems Ltd. study on Monday. The engineering consultants examined the intersection at 11 Avenue and 101 Street, since the city’s redesign work for this intersection was completed two years ago.

The study indicated the driving lane-width isn’t changing with the new bulb-shaped sidewalk extensions planned for the street corners downtown. Drivers negotiating turns shouldn’t experience any difficulties if they stay in their lanes and don’t cross the centre line, according to the study.

Mayor Ryan Bater said city administrators worked on creating a model to identify the turning radius at each corner, and how that impacts different vehicles.

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The report shows vehicles up to a one tonne truck can make all the necessary turns downtown.

“There were some specific questions about the intersection of 11 avenue and 100 Street, specifically the right hand turn, as you come south on 100 street,” Bater said following council. “Vehicles that can currently make that turn still will be able to, including school buses.

“Where we would have trouble and currently do is with semis and large trucks with large trailers,” he added. “Those are currently actually not allowed to make that turn right now. So we are not losing anything. It’s just continuing with the current procedures.”

The mayor said while the city had heard from a number of drivers concerned about the matter, the study showed turning shouldn’t be an issue.

“We’ve got a scientific answer tonight and council was satisfied with it,” he said.

The study also proposed a stop box design for the intersections as another option but indicated there are some challenges with that. As well, they could pose problems during the winter when the roads are icy.

Niesink said in her report, the benefits of having the bulb-shaped extensions, as shown on 101 Street currently, is that they help reduce the speed and flow of traffic downtown, improve pedestrian safety by reducing the distance to cross the street.

Niesink said with the redesign, pedestrians will be able to safely cross the road to access the two movie theatre buildings, the art gallery, restaurants and shops.

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW