The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will pay a visit to Fernie this spring to review several pedestrian crossing points at Highway 3.
After the City expressed concern over available Highway 3 crosswalks and crossing points, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure met with City staff in November to develop a plan for a Highway 3 corridor crosswalk review.
The City has requested the Ministry remove the Fifth Street marked crosswalk and install a new crossing at either Ninth Street or 11th Street.
“Twice in the last month here I’ve seen near misses,” said Councillor Phil Iddon. “One on the Fifth Street intersection of Highway 3, which is a concern of mine, and again on Ninth, which is on the horizon for [the Ministry] to control. It makes sense to put out [a crosswalk] to deal with Ninth, being a major thoroughfare of the town, but not necessarily at Fifth.
“I think it really makes sense to remove that pedestrian crossing because it’s not controlled. Someone is going to get seriously hurt there.”
Ministry staff will complete a site visit this May to evaluate the existing conditions of the area, pedestrian movements and school volumes, crossing opportunities, and traffic volumes. They will also conduct pedestrian counts at Fifth Street, Seventh Street, Ninth Street, and 13th Street, as well as do an analysis of traffic patterns.
Following the review, recommendations from the Ministry will be available by June.