CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Charlottetown’s public works department is making a change to the intersection of Brighton Road and North River Road.
In what will be a pilot project, the city will be turning the intersection into a three-way stop as of today in an effort to improve safety and relieve some of the congestion.
To make the changes, Brighton Road, between Century Terrace and Greenfield Avenue, will be reduced to one lane of alternating traffic between 9 a.m. and noon.
Up until now, only traffic coming down North River Road looking to turn onto Brighton was required to stop. Traffic will now be required to stop in all directions — in both directions on Brighton Road as well as from North River Road.
The issue was first discussed at a recent meeting of the public works committee.
Coun. Mike Duffy, chairman of the committee, said one of the problems is that traffic coming down North River Road has to inch out onto Brighton Road at the intersection to see if it is safe to turn.
“The sightlines are hampered or impeded so people have to stick their nose out to see what’s coming from the park or going to the park. It’s a dicey situation,’’ Duffy said.
He also pointed out that some motorists travelling towards Victoria Park on Brighton Road turn on their right-turn signal indicating their intention to turn right onto North River Road only to change their mind at the last second and proceed past North River Road towards the park, causing potential collision situations.
Future design projects
Charlottetown’s public works committee recently discussed the following areas under consideration for design changes:
- "Ken’s Corner" intersection (Longworth Avenue, Euston Street, Weymouth Street)
- Garfield Street
- Pond Street (between Spring Park Road and University Avenue)
- University Avenue (from Belvedere Avenue to Euston Street)
The city is also trying to alleviate traffic delays during peak hours on North River Road. Duffy said traffic, at times, can be backed up as far as Queen Charlotte Intermediate School.
And, that leads to another issue. Duffy said frustrated drivers are trying to bypass the congestion by turning off North River Road onto residential streets like McGill Avenue and travelling through neighbourhoods at high speeds.
“That’s very dangerous early in the morning,’’ he said. “They get on those side streets and they hit the gas and move quite quickly to Brighton Road. We have lots of kids and seniors out at that hour going for their walk or going to school. We hope (it) will eliminate or drastically reduce the stacking on North River Road. It may entice some of the people hoping over onto some of the residential streets to stick with North River Road.’’
The public works committee is also talking about eliminating the three-way stop at the intersection of Sandstone Drive and Thompson Drive. Sandstone connects Capital Drive with businesses such as MR Seafoods Inc. and Walmart. Duffy said there isn’t enough traffic to warrant stop signs in all directions so it could be changed to a one-way stop with only traffic coming off Thompson onto Sandstone required to stop.
