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Proposed Changes to Highway 1
Many people in the community are aware of
the pending changes to Highways 1 and 3 outside of the city, as
discussed at open houses this past year. However, a vast
majority of people in our community are unaware of the many
proposed changes to Highway 1 through Medicine Hat.
Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation initiated a survey by
Stantec to determine improvements that could be made to Highway
1 through Medicine Hat, including the 1st Street S.W.
intersection through to the 16th Street S.W. intersection. The
planning study sprouted two options for consideration.
The City of Medicine Hat confirmed that during discussions with
AIT, Option 1 was the option
that provided the best technical solution for the concerns
discussed. Upon review, it becomes very clear that Option 1
calls for the definite closure of both the 6th Street S.W. and
16th Street S.W. intersections. It was reasoned that to justify
the costs associated with the proposed addition of a full
interchange at Highway 1 and 1st Street S.W., the number of
access points outside of the interchange must be controlled.
All benefits of speedy and controlled traffic are lost if the
flow of traffic is constantly interrupted by a number of access
points.
An interchange was proposed at the 1st Street intersection of
Highway 1 because the engineers agreed that this would allow for
the best flow of traffic through the Medicine Hat Community. It
was determined that 6th Street S.W. was too close to 1st Street
to allow for both a full interchange at 1st Street S.W., and
partial access at 6th Street S.W. The proposed closure of the
16th Street S.W. intersection coincides directly with the
improvements suggested at the Gershaw Drive and Highway 1
intersection. Traffic lights and additional lanes would be
added to this intersection in preparation of the high volume of
traffic heading into either the Redcliff Drive area or the Light
Industrial area. As the plan stands now, all traffic trying to
obtain access to the Light Industrial Area or businesses in the
Redcliff Drive area off of Highway 1 will be forced to channel
through Gershaw Drive.
Examples of some of the concerns that the businesses should have
may include:
~The potential for huge delays and traffic jams in the
neighbouring areas.
~The reality that most of the businesses in these areas could
see huge losses, almost immediately, and most indefinitely.
Surprisingly, there has been little objection to the above
proposed plans since AIT has come forward with them. For the
most part, the changes proposed to the Highway through the city
have been overshadowed by the Ring Road Issue. The business
community in the Light Industrial and Redcliff Drive areas NEEDS
TO HAVE A VOICE! Alberta Infrastructure and Transportation is
having another open house on this issue but has not been
scheduled at this time. The most recent timeline for a public
review of the proposed changes indicates April or May for the
next open house in Medicine Hat.
Without more involvement from local business, especially those
in the areas to be directly affected, AIT will push ahead with
their directives, and implement the proposed closures. It is
speculated that changes could be implemented within 10 to 20
years, but the time to voice any concerns and questions is now!
For more information on the proposed changes as discussed above,
please
click here.
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