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Cargill intersections getting a second look

Close calls and collisions at a busy highway intersection have prompted Cargill to ask for the MD’s help to make its entrances safer.
Cargill Highway
Highway 2A is busy at 6:30 a.m. on July 17 as employees arrive for day shifts and leave night shifts at Cargill Beef. The plant has asked the MD of Foothills to review the entrances and exits onto Highway 2A in light of many accidents and close calls, and at least one fatality.

Close calls and collisions at a busy highway intersection have prompted Cargill to ask for the MD’s help to make its entrances safer. Scott Entz, of Cargill Beef High River, said there have been a few accidents on Highway 2A where employees enter the plant. Though there is a turning lane, he said it still tends to be the cause of concern. “I’m hoping we can come up with a plan that would make it a little better yet,” said Entz, who sent a letter to MD of Foothills council requesting the municipality look into the issue. According to his letter, there have been “many accidents – including a fatality, at this location.” There have also been many near misses that could have resulted in serious collisions, he wrote. Entz said it’s about improving safety for employees and other drivers. “We continually work on safety and that’s one of the challenges we’ve been looking at, and we just got to the point where it seemed like the time was right to explore it some more so we’re pursuing it,” he said. Roughly 2,000 people are employed by Cargill, he said, and about 1,000 of those employees would be coming to work for the morning shift between 6:30 a.m. and 7 a.m. every day. At shift change, between 3:45 p.m. and 4:15 p.m., there would be about 1,000 people leaving and 1,000 people arriving for work, he said. “We split the shift so there’s a gap and they’re not all there at the same time, with some overlap involved,” said Entz. “But over an hour to an hour and a half, they all have to get in and out. It’s a busy stretch of road.” He met with the MD and Alberta Transportation on July 13 to discuss possible courses of action. Jeff Edgington, MD supervisor of engineering and public works, said the municipality may be able to work with Alberta Transportation to come up with solutions to the issue. “Can I say what the solutions are going to be? No, I can’t, because I don’t know,” said Edgington. “We’ll end up talking with Alberta Transportation to see what kinds of things they’d be interested in letting us do.” He said it will likely mean hiring consultants to review the intersections and conduct traffic assessments to determine what the possible options could be.

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