I would like to comment on the approval that Council gave at the meeting of Aug. 17, and as reported in the Aug. 19 issue of the St. Albert Gazette, to the design and construction of a “roundabout” intersection at the junction of St. Anne Street and the new TachĂ© Street roadway.
In my view, it was appropriate for council at this point in time to approve the design of the intersection in order that the right of way can be obtained and protected for future construction.
In my view, it was not appropriate to approve the construction at this point of time, as it will be many years before sufficient development west of St. Anne Street will produce volumes of traffic large enough to justify the construction of the costly “roundabout.”
In my view, there is no outstanding priority to redevelop the section of St. Anne Street south of the courthouse at this point in time when roadway dollars are urgently required for other projects such as twinning Ray Gibbon Drive.
In my view, in the interim period of time a conventional non-signaled T intersection would be quite adequate to handle traffic from the Taché Street road. Example: Gate Avenue and Grandin Road.
In my view, there would be no need for signals at the “T” intersection because the signals at Churchill Road to the south, and the pedestrian crosswalk signals to the north would provide sufficient gaps in the through traffic flow to accommodate the traffic coming from TachĂ© Street.
In my view, the conventional “T” intersection cost would be in the order of $10,000 to $15,000 as no changes to the existing roadway would be required, other than the removal of a suitable length of curb and gutter and placement of new curb returns to provide access for the new TachĂ© Street – a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the proposed “roundabout” sign.
William Gillespie, St. Albert
