The Town of Nipawin is moving forward with a four-way stop at Centre St. and Second Ave.
Council approved the bylaw on Monday night, with the new four-way stop to be placed for a period of three months. A follow-up report will be presented by administration on the status of the new stop after it is in place for two months.
A traffic study was done on the intersection in 2019, and Mayor Rennie Harper told northeastNOW public safety is always foremost on council’s mind.
“The traffic study very clearly revealed, using SGI and RCMP data and input, that this intersection has seen the most…injuries and motor vehicle accidents in Nipawin,” Harper said.
There is a lot of foot traffic at the intersection, according to Harper, and that includes seniors with mobility issues. Harper added there are line of sight difficulties.
Public input was sought throughout the process, Harper said, including having an independent group made up of citizens and business owners as part of the steering committee.
“Students were involved in traffic counts and observations and data gathering,” Harper said.
She said the public was encouraged to participate during the most recent town open house, and were engaged in discussion and voting about aspects of the study.
The town memorandum in the council package from Monday night stated that ‘[p]edestrians will feel safer crossing as all traffic is required to stop. Vehicles along Second Ave. should not have to nose into the intersection to see oncoming traffic.”
The memo also said a concrete meridian is proposed to be installed in the future, with the construction of other meridians downtown. It added installing only the signs at this point will allow them to be removed if it’s found the four-way stop doesn’t work at the intersection.
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cam.lee@jpbg.ca
On Twitter: @camlee1974
