Some Red Deer County residents are hoping future improvements to Hwy 2A between Penhold and Red Deer will remedy long waits for left turns during high-traffic periods.
Marvin Stumpf, a resident of Waskasoo Estates, said he sometimes spends 15 minutes waiting on England Way to make a left turn onto Hwy 2A during morning or evening traffic rushes.
“There’s traffic coming from both directions . . . Someone’s going to get killed,” warned Stumpf.
He and his wife, Joanne Stumpf, attended an open house at the Penhold Multiplex on Tuesday on a study to identify right-of-way requirements in the next 20 years for a section of Hwy 2A south of Red Deer.
The couple had hoped for a traffic light at England Way, but were told the projected traffic volumes would not warrant that. Instead, lights are being proposed at the two busier intersections of Hwy 2A and McKenzie Road and Lantern Street.
The future options proposed for England Way are either moving the access to Hwy 2A much further south, or entirely closing off England Way at Hwy 2A. Instead, access to the Word of Life Church and Waskasoo Estates subdivision would be provided at the south end of Waskasoo Avenue, which would be reconnected with Rural Road 274 (also known as Township Road 375).
Neither the Stumpfs nor Waskasoo resident Dorothy Fowler like the second option, expressing concerns about high traffic volumes going past their mobile home park, where children play and seniors walk.
Marvin said that access was previously closed off because of vandalism to RVs parked near the end of Waskasoo Ave.
The residents prefer moving the England Way access to Hwy 2A further south, and relying on lights at Lantern Street to stop at least some of the traffic.
Penhold Mayor Dennis Cooper said there’s a need for the province to look ahead — his town’s population had a 20 per cent jump over five years, according to the federal census.
Cooper added there’s already congestion at Hwy 2A and Hwy 42 in Penhold, where drivers making left turns are delayed at certain times of day because of busy traffic.
While widening the two-lane highway as proposed to four lanes could improve traffic flow, Cooper said some 20,000 vehicle movements a day would be needed to get traffic lights. That intersection already has about 5,900 as of last year.
Another public open house on the 20-year study is expected in the fall.
More information will be available next week at www.transportation.alberta.ca/projects/central.aspx.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com