WAVERLEY: A resident would like to see improvements made to the Fall River Roundabout that would allow equal traffic flow from the Waverley side as it does from Fall River and Highway 102.
Kevin Hayes contacted the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal (DOTIR) with his idea of how the roundabout could be improved so traffic constantly flows and there would be no backup past the Vegetorium. At that time, Geoff MacLellan was Transportation Minister.
“There is a deficiency of that feeder being just one lane into the roundabout, while the other approaches from the 102 and the Petro Can are two lanes,” said Hayes in a phone interview on Sept. 20 with The Laker. “The approach from Waverley should mirror those two.”
Hayes emailed DOTIR two years ago. In the May 2015 response to Hayes’ initial message to the department, Bonnie Miles-Dunn, Manager Highway Planning and Design, said there were a number of factors considered when determining what could be built.
“One of the factors, as you have identified, is the amount of traffic anticipated at the intersection,” Miles-Dunn said. “Other items that can have an impact on the design of a project are the available land, environmental constraints, existing road placement and the overall project budget.
“The final design that was selected, and ultimately constructed, is considered to have achieved a reasonable balance for the site while taking all of these elements into account.”
Miles-Dunn said the roundabout project is just one part to the traffic solution required for the area.
“As each project moves forward, the traffic in the roundabout will change, resulting in different traffic patterns,” she said.
A photo from Hayes indicates the failure of the engineering plan, he said. The photo shows cars backing up past The Vegetorium waiting to get into the roundabout to go about their commute.
With a new Minister at the helm of DOTIR after a recent cabinet shuffle by Premier Stephen McNeil, that being Lloyd Hines, Hayes is resurrecting his push for a better flow from the Waverley way into the roundabout.
“I was told that when the plan was drawn up the goal was to seek a balance,” he said. “That’s all well and good. However, here’s always bugs. There’s always an opportunity to address those bugs and improve deficiencies. To this day nothing has changed there.
“With the change in Minister, that’s what has me wanting to bring back the concern to them. I figured I would give it another kick at the can and try to make a positive change for the area.”
phealey@enfieldweeklypress.com
