Officials with the city are recommending motorists of large vehicles, including RVs, safely drive over two mini roundabouts installed along Eighth Street SE as a pilot program to reduce traffic speeds in the area.--NEWS FILE PHOTO
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Motorists driving large vehicles, including RVs, will not be ticketed for driving over the paved area of two mini roundabouts installed along Eighth Street SE as a measure to calm traffic in the area.
In fact, motorists of large vehicles, as well as transit drivers, are encouraged to drive over the roundabout pavement in a slow and safe manner, rather than drive around it, to help navigate the roadway where new roundabouts have been installed at the Second and Fourth Avenue intersections.
“It’s safer for those big vehicles to just navigate straight through,” says John Ashton, transportation engineer at the city’s municipal works department. “And that’s why they are designed the way they are.”
Ashton says the roundabouts have been effective to help manage traffic flow in the area and improve safety by limiting the potential for vehicle collisions through reduced speed.
“I can’t stop people from driving over them,” says Ashton. “But we are really trying to address that speeding concern in the area, and even those guys driving over it, unless they are driving a dune buggy with an amazing suspension, they’re going to want to slow down before they drive over, so we are still getting that calming effect.”
Ashton says these measures are proven to help make roads safer.
“It’s not just us saying it, it’s a proven fact from the Transportation Association of Canada, who sets the guidelines and standards,” says Ashton. “These work. These work to help control traffic, to help reduce speeds.
“We look at these mini roundabouts and we don’t have stop signs now, you don’t have to physically stop at the intersection. You yield, you get into the roundabout and we can keep the flow of traffic at a slower reduced speed.”
The city receives several traffic complaints from roads including Eight Street SE, as well as Ranchlands Boulevard and Eighth Street NE, prompting the introduction of traffic-calming pilot projects in those areas.
Last year the city implemented a series of traffic-calming measures that included curb extensions, delineators and mini roundabouts at deliberate locations, part of a plan to improve transportation safety and address speeding in the city.
“There’s many types of traffic-calming measures,” explains Ashton. “We have speed bumps and raised crossings. We really need to pay attention to where it’s going, what makes the most practical sense for that area being considered.”
This year the city installed the pair of roundabouts in conjunction with its water and sewer rehabilitation program to replace water and sanitary infrastructure that dates back to 1913, while increasing the size of water and storm sewer infrastructure.
“We can put up stop signs but people can ignore signage. We can ask for more enforcement, but the police can’t be there all the time,” says Ashton. “So when we put a mini roundabout in, that’s a physical obstacle, something that is there all the time. You need to either slow down and go around, or slow down and go over.”
Since the city released measures last year, staff have been measuring speed and traffic volumes to help confirm the need for calming measures. Ashton says residents should contact the city’s municipal works department if they are experiencing traffic concerns in their neighbourhoods.
