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Staff recommend further monitoring of busy intersection

Councillor Debbie Dee disagrees with recommendation to do nothing
Laura Walz

A City of Powell River councillor is pressing for improvements to what she considers is a dangerous intersection.

Councillor Debbie Dee, who is also the executive director of Powell River Brain Injury Society, works on Marine Avenue near the intersection at Alberni Street. At a recent city committee-of-the-whole meeting, she was not happy with a staff recommendation to continue to monitor the intersection to determine if modifications are warranted.

“I’ve witnessed several accidents down there, so I don’t know why it says there are none,” said Dee, responding to a staff report. “I’ve also been in an accident on that corner. I also cross the street as a pedestrian several times a day because I park on the other side of the street and I’ve almost been hit, my staff have almost been hit and I’ve witnessed other people almost being hit.”

In 2009, council directed staff to identify solutions for the intersection. Staff worked in partnership with the Insurance Corporation of BC (ICBC) and the ministry of transportation and infrastructure (MOTI). The ministry contributed $5,000 for a review, contracted to Delcan Corporation, a civil engineering firm.

In October 2010, Delcan presented its report to council. It included an overview of the intersection, traffic light and turn signal function, collision history, recommendations to improve the intersection and potential ICBC funding. After the presentation, councillors passed a motion directing staff to prepare a report, including budget implications and funding sources.

Richard Stogre, manager of engineering services, presented that report at the May 17 committee-of-the-whole meeting. He said it would cost about $80,000 to implement all of the mitigation measures suggested in the Delcan report. However, the result would be reducing the overall accident potential by less than one collision a year.

ICBC has said it will contribute a maximum of $15,590 for improvements, Stogre said, and the ministry has told the city it won’t contribute any funding toward the project. That would mean the city would have to find about $65,000 to make the improvements.

In a statement provided by city staff, the ministry indicated that the improvements are unwarranted at this time. “The frequency and rate are lower than the benchmark and statistically insignificant, the severity is also statistically insignificant and under the predicted frequency. The intersection currently performs well and the proposed improvements will have a negative impact to traffic performance. The intersection will continue to be monitored to determine when the improvements are required.”

Stogre said engineering staff, who reviewed the data, came to the conclusion that there probably are other intersections that could benefit more from improvements. “Most of the work that has to be done is really the ministry of transportation’s responsibility,” he said.

Councillor Myrna Leishman agreed with Dee that the intersection was “treacherous.” However, she said she didn’t think the city could afford to put money into improvements, especially since the ministry was not supporting it.

The city does have $190,000 in a reserve, which came from the ministry for safety improvements around Willingdon Beach, Stogre said, adding the money will likely be used toward putting in a pedestrian crossing further down Marine at the Beach Hut. “Traffic lights of any sort are very expensive,” he said. “We’ll use a good portion of that money to do that work, unless a lower service level is determined between us and MOTI.”

Dee said she couldn’t agree with the recommendation to do nothing. “To say it’s not a dangerous corner is wrong,” she said.

Stan Westby, the city’s chief administrative officer, suggested the city should do a comprehensive study  of traffic incidents throughout the community. In the end, councillors agreed with that and directed staff to undertake a study of all traffic intersections in the city. A motion about the issue is expected to be on the agenda for the council meeting tomorrow, June 7.