The latest traffic study for Steinbach does not recommend any changes at the corner of Hespeler Street at Loewen Boulevard. Motorists have complained from time to time about long waits at the stop sign on northbound Hespeler at Loewen. The city's annual traffic count is done in mid-October on a Thursday and Friday between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. Phil Kalyta, the city's head engineer, says data from 2018 shows the average wait for drivers on northbound Hespeler at Loewen is 28 seconds which is considered acceptable by general traffic standards.

"There is a little bit of a wait at times with northbound Hespeler, approaching Loewen Boulevard. But what we saw this year showed that there was less than a half-a-minute wait, so that is still okay as far as traffic numbers go."

Meanwhile, Kalyta says the traffic count determined there is enough daily pedestrian traffic to warrant crosswalks on Highway #12 at Stonebridge Crossing and at Friesen Avenue as well as on Highway #52 at Lund Road. But he adds those decisions are ultimately up to Manitoba Infrastructure and nothing is imminent at this time.

Steinbach Christian High School would like a crosswalk for students across Highway #12 at Campus Drive, in front of Shell-Super Splash. Kalyta says that would require a very costly intersection upgrade with a proper pedestrian island in the centre median and that is not on the city's radar at this time.

"Right now it's a large rural intersection. There are approximately eight lanes of pavement that someone has to cross to get across with no safe resting place in the middle. So, right now, we can't recommend a corridor or crossing going there. You can't just plop it into the existing infrastructure that's there. The intersection has to be totally rebuilt to an urban standard to accommodate pedestrian movements, in order for that to happen safely."

Kalyta says, similarly, Highway #12 at Friesen Avenue is also not set up for a crosswalk because there is not much room for a pedestrian island in the centre median.

2018 Peak Hour Traffic Volume Map