OLIVER PAIPOONGE — The mayor of Oliver Paipoonge says she's pleased to see the Ministry of Transportation taking action to improve safety at the intersection of Arthur Street and Twin City Crossroad.
The MTO plans to install traffic control signals at the increasingly busy junction next year.
Mayor Lucy Kloosterhuis said a fatal collision at that location years ago prompted the municipal council to begin lobbying the province to improve safety.
"In August of 2017 we had a tragic accident there, and there had been many before that. But this one was the point that we decided we've got to do something there. So we wrote letters to the MTO. We had meetings with them over the years."
Kloosterhuis said after doing traffic studies, the ministry came up with two options.
"It was either a roundabout or a set of lights, and they did look at all the specifics for both of them, but they said the roundabout wouldn't work because they would have had to acquire too much land."
A ministry spokesperson told Dougall Media the MTO routinely monitors various criteria including traffic volumes, delays to traffic coming off side roads, and pedestrian activity.
"Recent analysis showed the need for traffic signals at this intersection, and construction activity is anticipated to start next year," she stated in an email.
The ministry is in the process of expropriating some land for the project, which will require the permanent widening of the right-of-way to accommodate intersection improvements, utility relocations and the new signals where Arthur Street meets Twin City Crossroad and Highway 130.
Right now, "It's extremely dangerous to try to cross that highway," Kloosterhuis said.
The mayor noted Oliver Paipoonge has "a lot of housing development coming in the Rosslyn area, which means many more vehicles, and we thank the MTO for looking at it and taking it seriously. Keep it safe for everybody, right?"
