Not every problem has to be solved with a megaproject costing many millions of dollars. Sometimes tweaking will do the trick.
Transportation Minister Blair Lekstrom announced this week that the province will spend $3 million for safety upgrades to the Sayward Road intersection on the Patricia Bay Highway. The project involves adding acceleration and deceleration lanes, improvements to nearby bus stops and an overhead sign that will warn drivers when the intersection is congested.
The intersection is regarded as a high-collision area - statistics show 169 rear-end collisions involving northbound traffic occurred at the intersection between 2006 and 2010. It's a frustrating spot for travellers - it's already the region's busiest highway, and the stop-and-go effect of traffic lights creates congestion and the opportunity for accidents.
Ideally, the intersection would have an interchange with an overpass and ample room for proper on-ramps and exits. But ideals and reality often collide. Such a project would be horribly expensive - it would necessitate buying land from adjacent residents and businesses and rerouting local roads. Such a plan would likely involve changes to Hamsterley Road, Brookleigh Road and Alderley Road. The proximity to Elk Lake would probably complicate things. The result could easily be a configuration that would match or exceed the pretzel-like McTavish Road interchange for complexity and confusion.
The time will come when population growth and increased traffic flow will dictate more extensive measures, but they should be part of a co-ordinated, comprehensive regional transportation plan. Meanwhile, for a fraction of the cost of an interchange, the province has come up with low-key changes that should result in significant safety improvements.
Some might call it a Band-Aid solution, but if a Band-Aid will do what's needed, why go for surgery?
Sometimes good enough is good enough.
