Estevan city council discussed plans to reduce the number of uncontrolled intersections in the community during their meeting on Monday night.
The city has received funding through the Provincial Traffic Safety Fund to install stop signs at half of the uncontrolled intersections in the community. The plan has been to apply for more funding next year to install stop signs for the remaining uncontrolled intersections in Estevan.
A document that outlines which intersections to be remedied first has been discussed by the city’s traffic control committee and the Estevan board of police commissioners. It originally called for stop signs to be installed in the Hillside and Hillcrest subdivisions this year.
But after a suggestion by Councillor Trevor Knibbs at last week’s police board meeting, it was decided to also add stop signs at the uncontrolled intersections near schools in the Westview and Pleasantdale subdivisions.
Hillside and Hillcrest were selected for this year because that’s where the most troublesome intersections are located.
At Monday night’s meeting, several members of council suggested taking care of all of the uncontrolled intersections this year. They believe it would make the city safer, but they also expect ratepayers will be wondering why some subdivisions are being taken care of first.
Coucnillor Shelly Veroba cautioned that if the city does proceed with completing all of the uncontrolled intersections this year, then it might not be eligible to receive funding next year.
Council tabled the document so that it can be advertised for the next two weeks, and members of the public can provide feedback. They will then revisit the issue at their next meeting, which is scheduled for July 15.
This week’s edition of the Mercury will have more on this story.
