By Jeff Labine

Transportation master plan adopted

May 11, 2017 | 9:03 PM

Prince Albert’s multi-year transportation master plan might be taking too long for some members of city council.

The master plan was adopted Thursday night at a special executive committee meeting. The plan includes projects to be completed over a five year and 10 year period.

That timeline was a concern for some councillors.

Ward 6 Coun. Blake Edwards said he doesn’t know if the area around Muzzy Dr. and 15th Ave. can wait five years before something is done.

“That intersection right now is congested and very dangerous,” he said. “I think something needs to be done sooner than the five year plan because the traffic is increasing all the time down Muzzy. It’s really dangerous because there’s really not a second lane to pass. People are sneaking by and there’s a crosswalk. Somebody is going to get killed there in the near future or seriously hurt”

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Wes Hicks, the city’s manager of capital projects, said the city could turn the outside lane into a properly marked second lane. He said the master plan includes a long-term solution to widen the roads while in the short-term, the city could put no parking signs along that route so vehicles could use the outside lane.

Ward 8 Coun. Ted Zurakowski said the city has been waiting for this plan for some time and was glad to have it, but also wanted to see the process to improve the city’s roads sped up.

“We need to find a way to turn this five year plan into a one or two year plan,” he said. “If fact, we should have called it ‘two years ago’ plan for some of these issues. We’re two or three years behind on this.”

He acknowledged the financial restraints the city is facing but continued to advocate for a shorter time period for long-standing issues.

Over the next five years, $4.6 million is being recommended with the biggest expense being $977,400 to install curbs and medians along 15th St. E. from First to 10th Ave. E. The second big project is widening Marquis Rd. from Central to Fouth Ave. E. The estimated cost there is $900,000.

The report calls the widening of Marquis Rd. “critical” as more than 15,000 vehicles travel along there per day. That project along with four others including installing sidewalks along Marquis from Fourth to Sixth Ave. E. and new traffic lights at Sixth Ave. E. and 28th St. are planned to get underway this year.

A total of 17 items are on the short term recommendation list.

The list of projects recommended to be completed over the next 10 years is much shorter and includes only three but the total cost is roughly $5.2 million. The report recommends $3.8 million for a new roadway at Marquis Rd. and $1.3 million for a new roadway for 10th Ave. W.

Jeff.labine@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @labinereporter