After complaints were received on congestion and safety concerns at the intersection of 104th Avenue and 110 Street, the city of Grande Prairie Engineering Services will be making small changes in the area. The eastbound traffic on 104th Avenue will have the left turning lane extended another 25 metres. Traffic Engineering Supervisor Robin Hutchison explains that right now, the left turning lane is has been extended to stretch around 60 metres back.
“This means that anybody turning eastbound to southbound or turning right [onto 110th Street] won’t be hindered by anybody turning left.”
Hutchison adds that before the left turning lane was added, the traffic would sometimes be backed up to 111th Street. He says now they are seeing considerably shorter line ups.
There were three other options that Engineering Services was looking at for the area like a 3 way stop, traffic signals or a roundabout.
Hutchison explains that a three way stop was nixed because it would stop traffic on 110th Street which didn’t need to be. He says that the addition could have had back ups to Highway 43 which would cause disruptions.
Hutchison says the traffic signals cost for this intersection would be around $300,000 and this area is not held as a high priority in the city’s program for installing lights. He explains that the fix is the extended turning lane and it will only cost $3000.
He adds that the option of a roundabout was considered but after looking closer at the intersection, there isn’t enough right-of-way to install a roundabout.
A marked cross walk will also be added for pedestrians to go across 104th Avenue from north to south. This would allow people to walk across from the Lipon Professional Centre to Walmart.