The provincial government will be working on traffic modelling along Ray Gibbon Drive this summer.
A letter received by Mayor Nolan Crouse from Transportation Minister Brian Mason said that the provincial government recognizes the city’s request to swap land and title of Ray Gibbon Drive.
A corridor study looking at extending Ray Gibbon Drive north to Highway 37 and Highway 2 has been completed, Mason’s letter said. The next step is comprehensive modelling of the traffic patterns along Ray Gibbon Drive, and Mason said the expectation is those results will be completed in six to eight weeks.
The letter was dated June 15.
“I was pleased with the letter,” said Crouse, noting it contained some stronger statements about what the provincial government is doing than he was expecting.
Ray Gibbon Drive was built with the idea that it would eventually become Highway 2 and that designation would be removed from St. Albert Trail.
City council would like to see both the extension and the expansion of the road, which can frustrate drivers during rush hour.
However, the mayor said the traffic modelling may end up showing that Ray Gibbon Drive’s traffic generally isn’t off the scale, or that only rush hour is an issue.
He said he’s glad the modelling is underway because it’s an analytical way of approaching the issue.
“The good news is they’re doing it,” Crouse said.
It’s more positive news than resident Michael Wilson received when he sent off letters in April to St. Albert’s MLAs about the road.
Wilson sent a letter after a suggestion was posted on the popular Community of St. Albert Facebook page that people should reach out to various stakeholders to add their voices to those concerned about traffic along Ray Gibbon Drive.
Wilson drives the road at least twice a day while commuting to Edmonton.
“Often, it is backed up the entire way with stop and go accordion traffic, even during non-peak hours,” Wilson said in an email, noting there’s also a congested merge point when the road goes down to one lane heading towards Edmonton.
“Twinning the road from this point to, at minimum, McKenney Avenue is imperative for the users of the road to be able to efficiently and safely traverse our road system, which will help alleviate traffic on St. Albert Trail,” Wilson said.
MLA Marie Renaud responded and said twinning the road is important for St. Albert and the region and she’d continue to work with Mason and city council on the matter.
MLA Trevor Horne’s response noted that the three-year provincial construction program doesn’t include twinning Ray Gibbon Drive, but said the government continues to work on the issue. Horne also noted the traffic modelling plans.
“Any further upgrades of Ray Gibbon Drive will be based on provincial priorities, available provincial budget and negotiations with the city,” Horne wrote.
The St. Albert and District Chamber of Commerce is also looking for the expansion and extension of the road.
Chamber president and CEO Lynda Moffat reported to city council this week that she and chamber chair Ken Macrae had met with Mason to promote the issue and a broader vision of the north parts of Highway 2.
The approach is that of a regional transportation hub, she said, rather than just focusing on St. Albert. To do so she said she’d spoken with mayors from Sturgeon County and Athabasca about issues along the highway.
“We also pointed out that doing traffic counts at this point would not gather good information, because many people have entirely stopped using Ray Gibbon Drive because of the congestion,” she said. She said that she was happy to see plans do exist for the widening of the road and the installation of interchanges.
“I did express to Minister Mason that I was very hopeful following our meeting, but he suggested we would need to be patient,” Moffat said.
