Traffic heads west on Highway 7 at the intersection of Highway 7 and Ditson Drive. A survey about Highway 7 and service road traffic and access in Kindersley was conducted in the spring, and the results have been made available for everyone to see.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The ministry of highways and infrastructure has released the results from a survey that asked motorists about the Highway 7 corridor through Kindersley.
Ministry officials were looking for public feedback on the section of Highway 7 running through Kindersley. The portion of the highway from 15th Street West and the town’s boundary on the east side of Kindersley were the topic of the ministry’s survey.
The survey incorporated the highway, the intersections along the highway and the town’s service roads to the north and south of the highway. The ministry accepted survey responses for several days back in March and April. The survey is part of the ministry’s Highway 7 Kindersley Corridor Study.
It was explained at the time of the survey that Highway 7 is part of the National Highway System and the goal of the initiative is to identify and prioritize future safety and traffic improvements through Kindersley.
People could view the full results at www.saskatchewan.ca under the public consultations section on the website. The survey was open to residents of the Town of Kindersley, but also to commuters and any other motorists that use the highway and service roads in town.
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The ministry received a total of 818 validated responses to the survey. Slightly more than 600 of the responses were from local residents, and the remaining demographics of respondents in order of volume were commuters, commercial vehicle operators, visitors travelling through town, pedestrians and cyclists.
The first section focused on questions about demographics, and the second section focused on questions about safety. When asked how safe respondents feel when they travel on Highway 7 through Kindersley, 43 per cent say somewhat safe, 37 per cent say not very safe and 17 per cent say not safe at all. In a telling statistic, all emergency first responders marked the “not very safe” option to the question.
In terms of crossing Highway 7, 40 per cent feel somewhat safe, 40 per cent feel not very safe and 17 per cent feel not safe at all. The percentages changed for the better with respect to accessing the service roads as 51 per cent feel somewhat safe, 34 feel not very safe and only 10 per cent feel not safe at all.
The top 10 safety concerns when travelling on Highway 7 starting with the most concerning are safety at intersections, crossing the highway, turning left at intersections, safety along the entire Kindersley corridor, speed through town, lighting, speed entering town, signage, visibility of hazards and turning right at intersections.
The top five safety concerns when travelling on the service roads starting with the most concerning are turning on and off the roads, parking, road width, delays and congestion and the speed of vehicles on the roads.
Steve Shaheen, a spokesperson for the ministry of highways and infrastructure, said the purpose of the ministry’s Highway 7 Kindersley Corridor Study is to identify and prioritize any “future traffic improvements” along the highway corridor.
He noted that one of the steps in the process is to get feedback from local residents and users of the corridor. Shaheen said 818 responses is a good result and it has provided useful data for consultants to use when considering future improvements. The online survey helps to broaden data.
The spokesperson said the ministry could have held an open house over a couple of days, but people are busy with their day-to-day activities and the online survey option works well to allow people to respond at their leisure. The ministry will be coming to Kindersley.
“These results have been shared with the steering committee, which includes representatives from the Town of Kindersley,” he said, recognizing the results are available on the website for anyone to see. “The consultant will be using the results as it works to develop alternatives for the corridor and that would be related to improving safety and traffic operations, and these alternatives will be shared with the steering committee as well as the community as a whole at a public information session.”
Shaheen said the public information session is anticipated to be held in the fall, but the ministry does not have a specific date set at the present time. It will take a bit of time to determine the plans for the alternatives, he said.
He noted that the ministry is working with town officials, but officials at both levels of government are doing their best to make the improvements community driven. The ministry wants the options to be driven more by the community than by officials at the ministry, he stressed.
The plan is to present three alternatives to the community, Shaheen said. The survey is just one part of the process because the alternatives have to meet certain criteria, so traffic engineering has to be done a certain way and public feedback supports the process. People will get a chance to weigh in on the alternatives.
Kim Vogel, the town’s director of transportation and environmental services, confirmed the town is still working on the file with ministry officials. People will be able to attend the public consultation in the fall.
“Associated Engineering is going to be providing probably three or four designs on the corridor,” Vogel said, noting that the options could include widening approaches or putting more lights along the highway corridor among other improvements. “We’re going to have a public meeting and invite everybody to come out.”
She explained that there is very little to comment on at this point because the designs are not ready, but the public will have an opportunity to provide feedback. No decision will be made by the town and ministry until the feedback has been gathered, she added.
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