North Battleford city council has voted to move ahead with major upgrades to Carlton Trail in 2020.
Council voted unanimously Monday to formally include the Carlton Trail improvement in the 2020 budget, which was itself approved later that evening, and to complete the work in 2020.
The project, designed to replace a “failing intersection” at Carlton Trail and Frontier Way, has been budgeted at a cost of $1.45 million, to be funded through reserves.
The vote to include the project in the budget was a mere formality, as council had decided during deliberations in December to include the project. The Carlton Trail upgrade was identified as the highest capital priority of administration during those deliberations.
While the intersection work has been on the books for a few years, there is new urgency about moving ahead with the project now.
According to the city’s planning and development department, they have received three new development permit applications for the area, but the city is not issuing permits for any of those due to the safety risks and traffic failures at the current intersection.
The Carlton Trail intersection has been a concern for a few years. The issue is safety at the intersection, with a high risk of accidents.
“We have what is currently a non-conforming intersection,” explained Mayor Ryan Bater to reporters following Monday’s meeting. “That intersection doesn’t meet traffic standards.”
A city memo from the planning and development and finance departments noted the intersection had been cited in the Transportation Master Plan (2017) as well as the traffic impact assessment commissioned by CIMA+ for the development of the Comfort Inn and Suites in 2016, among others.
The solution identified is to close the cross-movement pattern at the intersection and replace it with a right-in, right-out intersection. A signalized four-legged intersection at the Walmart east access and Carlton Trail would also need to be developed.
While council could have waited to 2021, Director of Planning and Development Jennifer Niesink explained Monday that would delay development in the area. Council was of the view that the Carlton Trail intersection project could not be put off any longer.
Mayor Bater told reporters they needed to move ahead, in part to “accommodate any future commercial development proposals.”
“We don’t want to be in the way of future economic development in Yellow Sky (neighbourhood),” said Bater.
According to the memo, the project calls for concrete work to create a median through the intersection creating a right-in, right-out, and then move towards creating a signalized intersection along with curbs and medians and asphalt and ditch and drainage work. There are also underground infrastructure improvements planned.
According to the city’s memo, the intention for 2020 is to do the underground infrastructure first, and then close off and complete the Walmart east access. That would allow the Frontier Way and Carlton Trail intersections open for vehicles in the area. Once that work is completed the Frontier Way intersection would then be completed. The intention is for the work to happen this summer.
