South Lakeside Dr upgrade unwarranted

Recently - Peter Epp Sr of Williams Lake sent the following "Letter to the Editor" to various media outlets concerning a plan by the City to upgrade South Lakeside Drive in 2013.  I agree with Mr. Epp, Sr that upgrading South Lakeside Dr would only serve to make an already bad situation into a worse one on a road that was never designed for municipal-level traffic counts, given South Lakeside Dr was built to a standard consisting with roads in the Cariboo RD (note - South Lakeside Drive area was annexed into the City in 1996).  I'd like to see the City do the upgrade that Mr. Epp, Sr has suggested

Mr. Epp, Sr.'s letter below:

The traffic flow from South Lakeside Drive to Highway 20, before the fire hall was built and the changes to the road were made, was at a maximum for safety.

This was before the traffic light and road changes were made at the South Lakeside intersection. It worked like a four-way stop before the traffic light was installed.

From the light on South Lakeside Drive and Hodgson Road, for the next tenth of a kilometre there are eight possible left-hand turns into businesses; only one has a left turn signal light. All B-Trains, chip trucks, high-boys, flat deck trucks must stop on the roadway to wait for traffic to clear to make a left hand turn, piling up traffic behind them. The more traffic into Walmart will mean a longer wait time to turn left. This is unworkable.

Trucks delivering steel to Bea-Mac must stop traffic in both directions to allow the trucks to enter and leave. Traffic coming off of Highway 20 from the west to Canadian Tire or Super Store turn-off must cross three lanes of traffic, cutting all other drivers off from right to left.

Fuel tankers, hi-boys, low-buoys, etc., also cut off all traffic on three lanes from right to left going into the Super Store or Canadian Tire. When snow covers all the painted lines because there is no proper alignment of road lanes, this is a major traffic accident waiting to happen.

South Lakeside Drive was never designed to handle traffic from Pioneer Development. All traffic in and out of the Walmart site was designed to go in and out at the four-way stop and the curb and gutter is already in place to exit in and out below the Pioneer Office complex.

Building a road where it was originally designed to go into the Walmart site and exit the Walmart site would give two ways into and out of South Lakeside, a major safety factor. As well, it would remove all traffic from South Lakeside Drive back to its original flow before Walmart was open. When the Pioneer site is fully developed there will be three times more commercial traffic, plus 250 to 350 residential properties, plus there is more undeveloped land – all inside City limits. There is no way you can move that much more traffic through South Lakeside Drive, no matter how much money you spend, aside from a road out of Walmart to Highway 20. If, in the future, an upgrade was needed to South Lakeside Drive, traffic could be detoured to allow more efficient construction at less cost.

I met with Councillors' (Surinderpal) Rathor and (Ivan) Bonnell several times this summer to discuss and observe obvious problems at the intersection lights, observing and discussing traffic flows and safety issues in the event of an accident. I also met with Mayor Cook at City Hall several times, and also Geoff Goodall - Acting CAO/GM of Planning and Operations. Mr. Goodall informed me I was the only person in Williams Lake that was unhappy with the upgrade. Mr. Goodall said he had no intention of even considering the original plan out of the Walmart site.

All the changes and money already spent on South Lakeside Drive have not made the road safer or faster. Money would have been better spent on the exit in the original design. Also, the City has a new plan to spend more money on a road that cannot possibly handle more traffic than that that is using the road each day now.

I do not believe I am the only person using Highway 20 and South Lakeside Drive that is unhappy with this intersection. Now is the time to voice your opinion. If this situation is not remedied soon, Lakeside residents will be facing traffic jams morning and evening, 365 days a year. Please fax, email or phone City Hall at 250 392-2311 and let them know your opinion.