Morinville councillors have once again vowed to make Highway 642 safe for pedestrians after a high-school student was struck by a car while crossing the street.
Morinville town council voted Sept. 13 to have Mayor Simon Boersma invite area school boards, Morinville–St. Albert MLA Dale Nally, and Transportation Minister Prasad Panda to meet and discuss solutions for ongoing safety issues on Highway 642.
The move was prompted by letters to council concerned about traffic safety at the Highway 642/Grandin Drive intersection and a Sept. 9 incident where a student was struck by a car while crossing the highway near Morinville Community High School. (Said student was taken to hospital and is now back in class at MCHS, said Greater St. Albert Catholic superintendent Clint Moroziuk.)
The Sept. 13 motion is similar to one passed in November 2021, where council directed Boersma to meet with Nally and Rajan Sawnhey (then the transportation minister) about traffic safety issues at the Highway 642/Grandin intersection.
Hazardous highway
Highway 642 is a four-lane affair that cuts through the heart of Morinville. The road’s width, speeding drivers, and general lack of traffic lights make crossing it a dicey proposition for many residents.
The four-way stop at Grandin and Highway 642 has become a hot spot for safety concerns as of late, with several councillors highlighting it during the 2021 election.
In an interview, Coun. Rebecca Balanko said she regularly sees about 20 cars stacked up at that intersection during the morning rush as many students try to cross the street.
“There’s no way for these kids to get across safely,” she said, especially when you add impatient drivers and the glare of the rising sun.
Resident Marcy Nolin said her two kids were almost struck crossing the street at Highway 642 and Grandin recently.
“The vehicle missed them by about five inches,” she said, and her kids had to run to dodge the car.
Nolin said she has seen many near-hits at this intersection in the last five years. She called Global News to look at the intersection last week to draw the province’s attention to it.
“It’s just become a really big hazardous situation for a lot of pedestrians,” Nolin said.
Slow solutions
Council has deployed curb extensions along Highway 642 and oversized stop signs with flashing lights at Highway 642 and Grandin to improve safety, Boersma said. The town’s 2022 capital plan earmarks $1.58 million between 2022 and 2026 to add traffic lights to the Highway 642/Grandin intersection.
Whether or not those lights are needed is debatable: council received a pedestrian crossing review in April which found that lights were not necessary at Highway 642 and Grandin at current traffic levels, but might be needed within five years.
There is also the issue of jurisdiction: Highway 642 is under provincial control, meaning any improvements to it must be authorized, and likely funded, by the province. Balanko said she would not support the five-per-cent tax hike needed to put in lights at Highway 642 and Grandin if Morinville did so without provincial help.
Nolin said paid crossing guards or flashing pedestrian lights could improve safety at this intersection.
Boersma said this is a community challenge which will require a community solution. Lights may be a long-term answer, but short-term steps are also needed.
“We have to ensure our kids are safe.”
Boersma said the town is finalizing a study on whether or not roundabouts or traffic signals would improve safety at the Highway 642/Grandin and Cardiff Road/100th Street intersections, and will present the results at an open house Oct. 26. He is also in talks with Nally on this issue.
In an email, Michelle Rahel, speaking on Nally’s behalf, said Nally was working with the Town of Morinville and Alberta Transportation as recently as Sept. 12 on ways to improve traffic safety at the Highway 642/Grandin intersection.
