The Town of Turner Valley is looking for help to increase the visibility of a street that’s seeing higher traffic over the past year.
Coun. John Waring is concerned about the inability to see 16th Avenue, the southern entrance into Turner Valley from Highway 22, in dark and foggy conditions.
“There is no signage around the 16 Ave. junction on Highway 22 to say, ‘Turn here to go to Turner Valley,’” he said at the Sept. 6 council meeting. “There is no indication that there is a junction there, apart from a few little reflectors which are easy to miss. When you’re driving at night you’re looking for that turn and it’s 100 K – I don’t have a problem with the speed limit – but you pass it before you realize it.”
The road, which runs south of Black Diamond and Turner Valley, is a regular thoroughfare for residents in Bailey Ridge, Royalite Way and Royalite Drive areas and for motorists heading south from Turner Valley after a portion of Imperial Drive was closed last summer.
Since the closure, motorists can no longer access Turner Valley through the Turner Valley Golf Club, making 16th Avenue the only route from the east.
“I use that junction a lot,” said Waring, who lives on Imperial Drive. “We came back from the (Longview) steakhouse one night, it was a bit misty and we passed the turn. Some friends of ours who were visiting had the same problem.”
With the daylight hours growing shorter, Waring suggested signs be placed along Highway 22 north and south of the 16 Ave. intersection indicating the access to Turner Valley.
“The safety concern I have is the fact that people who miss the turn might want to do a U-turn on the highway,” he said. “If development occurs there is going to be more traffic and it would be nice to have that at 70 km per hour.”
Waring said he has not heard of any accidents occurring at that junction, but he feels changes need to be made to make the intersection safer.
“Local people are more aware of it, but for people who are not here all the time trying to locate it can be difficult,” he said.
Coun. Gerald Pfeil agreed that a lower speed limit might be a good solution for that intersection in the event of future development along 16 Ave.
“I know that’s wishful thinking, but we could approach the powers that be,” he said. “In the future it could really become a huge problem.”
Coun. Dona Fluter suggested looking into installing streetlights along the highway near that intersection to improve visibility at night.
Barry Williamson, the Town’s chief administrative officer, said 16 Ave. is within the MD of Foothills and adding signs or changing the speed limit on Highway 22 would have to be approved by Alberta Transportation.
“This might be one worth talking about at the AUMA,” he said, referring to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association in early October. “We might get some feedback as to what is required of that. It might be such that until development occurs there might be a case that we have to delay (reducing the speed limit).”
Turner Valley mayor Kelly Tuck suggested the Town also have a conversation with administration at the MD of Foothills, Town of Black Diamond and Village of Longview about the lack of visibility of 16 Ave.
