CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The first displaced left turn intersection in Canada opened Sunday in Charlottetown without a hiccup.
The first vehicles turned left from the Charlottetown Perimeter Highway onto St. Peters Road around 2 p.m.
Stephen Yeo, the province’s chief engineer, said the province and city had a lot staff on hand to ensure the opening of the new lanes went well.
“It’s nice to see traffic moving through here smoothly,” he said.
No accidents had been reported to the Charlottetown Police Services four hours later.
The province looked at a few different options to deal with the heavy traffic volume in the area.
“This design came out on top,” Yeo said, noting it was on budget at $5.3 million. “It’ll work very well for the amount of traffic we have. It will reduce congestion and it will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
It won’t be the end of construction in East Royalty area though as three more roundabouts on St. Peters Road are planned for 2021 as a way to help address residents’ concerns with long waits at neighbourhood lanes turning onto St. Peters Road. The area is also facing increasing population growth.
