The abundance of traffic lights is costing taxpayers too much money and the mayor wants to reduce their proliferation across the city. (Tyler Marr /paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

lighten the load

Does the city have too many traffic lights? P.A. mayor thinks yes

Jul 9, 2019 | 5:45 PM

Escaping Prince Albert’s forest of traffic lights in the downtown and other areas of the city can be very frustrating for motorists and it’s also costing taxpayers. The mayor wants to see some of them gone, and quickly, while city staff say they need more hands on deck to maintain them all.

The abundance of traffic signals — there are 62 signalized intersections/pedestrian half signals across the city — is costing big money to maintain.

“Lights are very expensive …we need to think outside the box.” _{– Mayor Greg Dionne}

City staff recently requested council consider allowing for another full-time employee to deal with the constant maintenance and fixes. A report shows a total of 11 weeks of overtime was accrued by the existing traffic light maintenance person and a journeyman electrician. Also, not having a second dedicated person in the role risked a gap in skills and know-how should the existing person be away, and that means traffic lights could go unrepaired when hit or damaged by storms.

City council has agreed to consider hiring another employee from 2020, to the tune of about $100,000 a year, but the mayor wants other options to be part of the mix.

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“Lights are very expensive and expensive to maintain,” Dionne told paNOW. “With our weather they break. We have to think outside the box and adding different types of traffic calming devices is the answer.”

Dionne couldn’t say if this would entail the construction of traffic circles instead of lights at intersections but figured the public would see changes with the upcoming downtown revitalization.

“We do have a report that says we should start removing [traffic lights] and I think you’ll see a pile of them go when we do Central Avenue, but I do believe we should do that quicker,” he said.

The staff report on the request for the additional employee noted Prince Albert had one staffer to take care of the city’s 62 signals, while Moose Jaw had one staff member responsible for its 30 signals. Saskatoon has nine staff members looking after its 285 traffic signals or one person for every 32 signal, plus two seasonal employees.

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow