Intersection Studied Numerous Times In The Past

By Robert Thomas

The intersection of the Trans Canada Highway and 9th Avenue NW may be a top priority for the businesses located on the North Service Road but if you want to know exactly what the Province’s Department of Highways has done over the years about the intersection well that will cost you.

The Department’s response also may well indicate they have studied the contentious intersection to death - both figuratively and literally over the years.

In a response to a Freedom Of Information request made by MJ Independent the Department Of Highways declined to release the information as MJ Independent had failed to provide sufficient reasons that it was in the public interest to do so.

In a FOI request made over two years ago the Department responded there was a “large volume of material” but they were not prepared to release the documents without the payment of close to $2,000. Given the cost and budget MJ Independent declined to pay the required fee after losing our appeal to the Department on the issue.

The request also illustrated not only is there a large amount of internal reports and documentation but over the years the City of Moose Jaw has brought the safety issue up with the Province.

In documents obtained by MJ Independent the issue of installing traffic lights was brought up with the Department of Highways as far back as 2012 but the request was denied by the Province.

Email sent to Committee members in 2012 about lights at intersection

It is unknown if there were any serious crashes causing death or serious injury in the ten years since the City requested the installation of traffic control lights at the intersection.

EDITOR’S NOTE - The author of this article sat on the City of Moose Jaw’s Transportation Services Committee in 2012 when the issue of installing traffic lights at the intersection of the Trans Canada Highway and 9th Avenue NW was before that Committee and traffic lights were recommended.

The author wrote a letter to the Swift Current Booster regarding a pedestrian death on the highway there. The following is an excerpt from that letter to allow readers to determine any bias in articles written on this important issue.

“In the City of Moose Jaw we've got some very major concerns with 9th Ave NW and the TransCanada. The province has tried to eliminate it through bypass construction and reducing the speed limit, but each year we still have people seriously hurt and killed there.

Each fatality seems to get better attention from the province, but I truly wonder how many people need to be killed there before they finally fix the problem.

The City and traffic technical committee has been raising concerns there for years and continue to do so.

Like Swift Current the real solution seems to be traffic control signals stopping traffic on the TransCanada Highway, but like here its a great taboo subject that needs further study.

Let's hope that this present round of meetings actually produces true solutions and we aren't reading about more unnecessarily lost lives out on the TransCanada Highway.”