Main Street traffic concerns aired before Town Council

Main Street resident Victor Walker appeared before Pincher Creek's Town Council at their March 12 meeting to again air concerns about the way traffic is controlled on Main Street near the Memorial Community Centre.  Here is the text of his presentation to Council:

"Thank you Mayor Olsen.
First, I wish to make an apology to Council for the manner in which I responded to the Administrative Report to Council on our request to have the 4 Way Stop at Main and Robertson removed last year. I took said report as a personal attack and, in doing so, I went beyond what might be expected by Council as acceptable limits for a petitioner. I now realize that that was an inappropriate response, and for this I wish to apologize for the manner of addressing you and any inconvenience I may have caused to Council, either individually or collectively.

I also wish to cast a bouquet to Council. Both this Council and those who occupied these chairs before you, for the exceptional recreational facilities that you have developed and continue to support in a Community of this size. The concentration of sports and leisure buildings, fields and parks on the East End of Main street is something of which both Council and the Community have a right to be justifiably proud.



BUT ...

This brings me to what I wish to bring to your attention tonight - a question of pedestrian safety on the roadway in front of said facilities and playing fields. 

Specifically, based upon personal observation and background experiences, I believe the concentration of sport and leisure facilities along Main Street, located as they are, creates the potential of “an accident waiting to happen.”

Why? With vehicles traveling on Main Street, between the blocks from Robertson to St, John's, especially from the East, along a line of parked vehicles, there is a very real possibility of a child running out between parked cars and into traffic, and even for youths and adults to unthinkingly step out into oncoming traffic. In either case, the driver may have little chance to react in time to avoid an accident. Such a situation, when it happens will, quite likely, be either life crippling or life ending.


Tragic as such a preventable accident may be, and this may be as much of a consideration for Town Administration as for Council, the fallout from such an accident could get significantly worse. 

In order to explain what I mean, first some background...

1. In the previously mention Admin Report to Council from last year the author included the following statement:
“It is noteworthy that investigation revealed that when the three way       intersection was removed from Davidson Avenue and Main Street, there was concern about foot traffic leaving the Arena. With no stop sign present the worry was that children leaving the arena would rush out into traffic. Resultantly, rails (which are still there) were installed at the front of the arena.” (Possibly from 2004, perhaps Oct 25) 

2. As part of our presentation requesting the removal of the 4-Way STOP last year you may recall reference to a study of such AWS corners done by W. M. Bretherton Jr. The referenced work was a review of over 70 technical papers covering all-way stops. In particular I wish to bring Item 4 of his findings forward again for your review.
     “Unwarranted multi-way stops increased speed some 
       distance from intersections. The studies hypothesizing 
       that motorists are making up the time they lost at the
       "unnecessary" stop sign.”
        www.ite.org/traffic/documents/aha99b49.pdf 

3. Also, there is the Government of Alberta Recommended practices for Stop Signs which states, on page 8 of 9, under the section Conditions Restricting Use of All-Way Stop Condition:
     “All-Way stop control should not be used under the 
      following conditions:
     (4th .) at intersections that have one or more multi-lane 
      approaches and/or designated turning lanes.” 
      www.transportation.alberta.ca/Content/docType233/Production/04StopSign2009.pdf 

4. Finally, in many Communities an area where such facilities are concentrated it is common to see a speed control zones established as a means of diminishing risk for all concerned.
So what does this all mean to Council and Administration?

1. The Guard rails at the Arena: Indicative of a previous Council's recognition of a risk to public safety in the immediate area.
2. The 4 Way stop at Robertson and Main – The unintended consequences of moving of the all-way stop to a location immediately East of the R&L area created a condition that means vehicles are accelerating along Main immediately parallel to the cars and trucks parked in front of the library, fitness centre, pool and rink. Two different groups are of real concern here, regular drivers speeding up to make up for lost time at the AWS, and the “young bucks with trucks” that use the AWS for accelerated takeoffs. Both types of drivers increase the risk of an accident along this stretch of roadway.
3. Alberta Government Regulations: Robertson Avenue, where it crosses Main from the North, makes provision for a turn lane. I would suggest that it is, therefore, an unbalanced intersection. An all-way stop location that is strongly ill-advised by Government of Alberta: Transportation.
4. Normative standard: What have other Towns done to control traffic in like areas. Speed zones and 30 Km max. speed limits are probably the norm.

While I do not pretend to be a civil claims lawyer or traffic expert, I do think, when taken as a whole, these points could indicate that, when the accident occurs, not only will you be questioning whether or not you could have done something to prevent the accident from happening, Council may well be found to be culpable. Question: Does liability exist if you fail to properly assess the risks within the area and act in a responsible fashion? 

Given the above circumstances, I respectfully suggest that you act so as to make this area safer for all who use the Recreation and Leisure complex that past and present Councils have created for the enjoyment of area residents. Please, before the accident happens, consider some form of traffic speed controls for this section of Main Street that will make citizen access and egress to these facilities as safe as it is reasonably possible to expect Council to so do.

Thank you, once again, for your time and patience. I hope my thoughts merit your attention.
A.V. (Vic) Walker."

(note: Mr. Walker in some parts paraphrased this text during his presentation, but the gist of it remained the same.)