Crossfield’s first set of solar-powered flashing pedestrian crosswalk signs are scheduled to be installed at three points along Limit Avenue before the start of the school year.
During the June 21 Town council meeting, Mayor Nathan Anderson suggested the new signs scheduled to go up at the crosswalks of Strathcona Street, Ross Street and Harrison Street – which turns into Murdoch Street when crossing Limit – be expedited to the 2016 construction year.
“It’s a safety thing and whether we did it this year or next, it’s got to be done,” Anderson said. “I think we should just do it. It’s the right thing to do.”
At a cost of $8,000 per set, Chief Administrative Officer Ken Bosman said the $24,000 price tag could come from of the Town’s $150,000 contingency fund, budgeted specifically to deal with emerging priorities identified by council.
With the mid-year budget revision pending, he said he is confident the positive swing in revenue and cost reduction – which he predicts to be about $150,000 – would cover the cost.
“I actually don’t expect we’ll be hitting the contingency fund,” Bosman said.
Because Limit Avenue is technically a provincial highway, Bosman said the Town needs approval from Alberta Transportation before the signs are installed.
With an eight-week wait time to receive the signs, Bosman said he expects installation will occur in late July or early August.
Councillor Devon Helfrich said he was relieved the signs would be installed before the start of the school year.
“It will just help slow down Limit in general from people who rip down there,” he said.
Council threw its support behind an application for the provincial Green Transit Incentives Program (GreenTRIP) that could get the Town two buses and seven shelters at a third of the cost.
Though the six-month transit pilot program between Crossfield and Airdrie ended in March due to lack of ridership, Anderson said the $90,000 municipal commitment for the GreenTRIP grant project would be worth it in the long run.
With a project completion date of 2019, he said he would rather be ahead of the game when the need for transit becomes an “inevitable reality” for the community as it grows.
“My thought is that it’s a bit premature,” he said. “Even if we’re six months or a year ahead of schedule, that’s better than being behind schedule.”
Bosman said he felt the problem with the original transit pilot involved the time of day Airdrie was able to supply buses – with the first bus running at 6:05 a.m. and another bus running from about 4 to 6 p.m.
If Crossfield owned its own buses, Bosman said it could be run at better times throughout the day, potentially increasing the demand and ridership numbers.
