Safer Intersections Needed

Traffic safety and drainage concerns. Those were two of the topics that came up Friday in the monthly open door session in Steinbach. Mayor Chris Goertzen says residents continue to push for safer intersections at two locations along Highway #12.

One of those locations is at Loewen Boulevard. Mayor Goertzen notes one resident actually came up with a pretty good suggestion. "One of the suggestions was instead of having just green lights for people making lefthand turns and going forward, that there actually be alternating signals with arrows." Mayor Goertzen says that's an interesting concept "and obviously the engineering department will look into what the possibilities are there and maybe what the drawbacks are of that possible solution."

He says there were also concerns raised over the intersection at Park Road. Mayor Goertzen notes "Park Road obviously is in need of turning lanes and we continue to ask the province to invest in that corner and hopefully make it a better and safer place."

Both the Loewen Boulevard and Park Road intersections are along provincial highways. Mayor Goertzen says "we do have some jurisdiction over the Loewen Boulevard corner but we have limited jurisdiction over Park Road."

As for drainage concerns, Mayor Goertzen says "we have a number of drainage ditches and swales in our community. Many of them are in good repair but some of them still need some work." He notes there's slumping taking place but also pools of standing water but he adds council is aware of this concern and has set up a fund where approximately $50,000 is forwarded each year in order to mitigate some of the challenges.

Mayor Goertzen says with fifty thousand dollars "you can tackle a couple hundred feet at at time. And the reality is we're a very flat community. And so we have a number of areas that are a concern and over a number of years I think we can certainly tackle this challenge."