Villeneuve residents will have to slow down on the way home for the next few months as the province works to replace its main intersection with a roundabout.
Construction of a new single-lane roundabout at the intersection of Highway 44 and 633 east of Villeneuve began last July 18. When complete this fall, the intersection’s two-way stop will be replaced with a $6.4 million free-flowing roundabout.
Highway 44 and 633 is a busy intersection and the gateway to Villeneuve. As the speed limit on both roads is 100 kilometres an hour, crossing the intersection to get to Villeneuve can be dangerous.
Lifelong Villeneuve resident Harold Klak said he’s seen many collisions at this intersection, some of them fatal.
“So many times we see near-misses there,” he said. “You hear a bunch of sirens and you hope to God it isn’t one of your kids or someone you know.”
Area MLA Doug Horner said he’s been looking to fix this intersection for many years. “There’s obviously been an increase in traffic,” he said, and residents are worried.
Studies by Alberta Transportation suggest that this is the 55th-worst performing intersection in the province, said department spokesperson Tina Stewart, as it has a history of T-bone collisions.
That’s prompted the province to replace it with a roundabout.
Roundabouts are small traffic circles that force traffic from multiple streets into one or two common lanes. Cars in the circle have to move at low speeds and in the same direction due to its shape, which engineers say reduces collision speeds and prevents head-on and T-bone collisions. Roundabouts avoid the traffic clogs caused by signalized intersections as cars can move freely through them.
This particular roundabout will be about 50 metres wide, Stewart said and illuminated. It will initially be a single-lane circle, but may grow to two later. The middle island will be coloured for easy visibility, and will feature a lowered edge or apron that big trucks can run over in order to get through the circle.
The roundabout should give emergency vehicles a safe way to get in and out of the airport, Horner said. That’s important, as the province is investing about $6 million into the Villeneuve Airport to make it the province’s backup landing site for medevac planes.
“Rather than have people blow through the stop sign, this is a much better alternative.”
It’s also a lot cheaper than a $50 million interchange.
Crews will work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. all week from now until Oct. 15 to build the roundabout, Stewart said. The intersection has been temporarily converted into a four-way stop with a speed limit of 50 kilometres an hour.
Crews plan to build the approaches to the roundabout first to limit the impact on motorists, Stewart said, followed by the round connector road. Drivers should obey all signals and flag-persons during construction. Speeding fines are doubled in construction zones when workers are present, she noted.
The Highway 44 and 633 intersection is a vital traffic link for the airport, said Lynda Moffat, chair of the Villeneuve Airport Regional Task Force. This roundabout would both improve traffic safety and the airport’s access to St. Albert.
“The long term results are going to be phenomenal.”
While he was glad to see work done on the intersection, Klak said he worried the roundabout could make for a lot of noise from truckers using their engine retarder brakes.
“We have noise from the airport, and the truck noise is just going to add to it.”
Questions should go to Stewart at 780-422-7046.
