The construction of this median on the east side of town 11 years ago stopped vehicles from turning left into and out of the Gateway Covenant Church. The city is now looking at rectifying matters. (Glenn Hicks/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

fixing things

City to address church access issue

Aug 27, 2019 | 5:00 PM

The long wait for a Prince Albert church to have full road access returned to its site may be coming to an end, as the city addresses what is seen as an increasingly dangerous situation.

Eleven years ago the city constructed a median outside the Gateway Covenant Church on 15^th Street E. It was part of the project to install traffic lights at the intersection of 15^th Avenue E. However, the median blocked traffic coming from the city from turning left directly into the church grounds and also stopped traffic leaving the site from turning left. Parishioners and visitors have to access the back lane off 15^th Avenue E. before entering the large parking area which causes problems according to the chairman of the non-profit organization.

“It’s an ongoing safety issue and we’re very concerned about that,” Janet Loseth told paNOW after Monday’s executive committee meeting of city council. ”We have children come and go in there all the time, walking in, we’ve got parents driving in all the time.”

Loseth added the back lane access as well as the one-directional turn onto 15^th St. E. was becoming increasingly congested especially at peak times and busy occasions such as weddings and funerals. Motorists leaving from the rear of the church and heading back toward the city need to travel along residential streets before getting back onto the main road.

Loseth presented her case for redress to council and said she was pleased with the response from some of the councillors.

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“Yes, that encourages me, because sometimes you just don’t know,” she said, noting her organization had had many dealings with city officials over the years but nothing had come to fruition to deal with the problem. She also admitted that changes in governance personnel at the church led to the matter getting shelved for too long.

During discussions councillors voiced their support for the church in acknowledging it was the fault of a previous city administration that resulted in them losing full vehicular access to their property.

“I’m not very happy about what happened either,” Ward 4 Coun. Don Cody said. “I talked to people who were engineering it at the time and I didn’t get a very good answer, so hopefully now we can to it and get it done.”

The city’s public works staff is recommending no part of the median be cut away as that would involve traffic crossing over the main road too close to the intersection and traffic lights. The department will bring forward its proposed solution and costs at a future date.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow