kingston approves hwy. 15 roundabout
kingston's new roundabout meant to improve traffic flow at new intersection on highway 15.
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kingston city council approved a roundabout for a highway 15 intersection with summer valley terrace.
(elliot ferguson/the whig-standard/postmedia network)
elliot ferguson
/
the whig-standard
kingston — city council voted to build a roundabout at a new intersection at hwy. 15 and summer valley terrace.
council voted 10-3 in favour of an option that would see the subdivision’s developer build the roundabout for approximately $3 million.
last month, a vote on a design for the intersection was deferred to give city staff time to find other options.
the earlier deferred vote would have seen council choose between a roundabout that would have cost about $5 million and take more than two years to build and an all ages and abilities intersection, a more traditional signalled intersection that would have cost about $1 million and could have been in place by the end of 2025.
“this is the best outcome you could hope for,” pittsburgh district coun. ryan boehme said about the new option put before council. “it is a reduction in cost. it still makes the roundabout feasible and this is the exact reason why we sent it back.”
city council had earmarked $3.8 million in the 2025 budget for the roundabout project.
the original roundabout option would have asked the city to add about $1.4 million to the project because of the need for an environmental assessment and significant realignment of hwy. 15, both in the vertical and the horizontal, relocation of infrastructure, changes to the greenwood park stormwater management pond and recreational trail.
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those changes will still need to be made but the developer’s offer to build the roundabout for $3 million, including $375,000 the company is contributing, will still require the city to add almost $350,000 to the project budget to cover expected cost increases.
the roundabout option was opposed by countryside district coun. gary oosterhof, collins-bayridge district coun. lisa osanic and meadowbrook-strathcona district coun. jeff mclaren.
“this one here, to me, is a pretty problematic intersection,” oosterhof said, who suggested traffic flow on the road could be improved by better timing on existing traffic lights.
“i initially supported the roundabout,” osanic added. “i didn’t know just how much more expensive the roundabout would be than just sticking with traffic lights.”
a roundabout was the intersection design preferred by staff, councillors and drivers because it is meant to control traffic through the area while not slowing vehicles as much as a traditional traffic lights.
mayor bryan paterson said many area residents have accepted that another intersection is to be added to the route, but the community is interested in a solution other than a new set of lights.
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“if you’ve driven it, you’ll know that in spite of all the best efforts of staff to try to co-ordinate the lights as as as much as possible, the sheer volume of traffic makes it extremely challenging to navigate at particular times of the day,” paterson said.
elferguson@postmedia.com
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