A safety review completed on Womacks Road in Blackfalds will lead to some lower speed zones, a new four way stop and some rapid flashing beacons.

Mayor Melodie Stol says they used the provincial government’s points test on Womacks Road due to the opening of the new All Wheels Park.

“So we noticed traffic patterns in that area change slightly due to that and upon doing the points test, it has shown that we now need to include a playground zone near the Abbey Centre and skateboard park corridor”.

The Town also reviewed an intersection on Womacks Road at the request of residents according to the Mayor.

“For a number of years people have requested that be changed to a four way stop but we haven’t done it because it hasn’t met the traffic counts for example, there wasn’t enough traffic counts to justify it. But we are now seeing, just with the increased usage of the Abbey Centre and how the traffic flows north and south on Westridge Drive, it now has enough points that it justifies upgrading it to a four way stop”.

Additionally, Stol says Town Administration is researching two types of rapid flashing beacons to help improve safety at school crosswalks.

“That’s for two locations; one on Womacks Road and one on Cottonwood Drive, the goal will be to have that in for the school year because the two locations are near the existing junior high and our new St. Gregory’s, so we wanted to add these crosswalk features”.

The beacons will be installed at the intersection of Womacks and Leung and at the intersection of Cottonwood Drive and Cedar.

The new playground zone and four way stop on Womacks will be installed this summer.

 

(Courtesy Town of Blackfalds)