The introduction of altered traffic light signals on Canmore’s Main Street, led to drivers and pedestrians being apprehensive and disorderly about what should happen next.
After “conflicts” and “near misses” at the intersections with pedestrians and vehicles, the Town of Canmore removed the Delayed Pedestrian Phasing (DPP) on Main Street weeks before it was planned, and reverted back to a more standard signal phasing – at least for now.
The trial for the DPP on Main Street and 6th and 7th Avenues ended Sunday (Aug. 17), earlier than the late August or early September expectancy, says Jacob Johnson, acting manager, engineering services, citing they were not intuitive to the community.
“We’re always looking at the best way to serve pedestrians and vehicles throughout town,” Johnson said. “As volumes change and traffic patterns change, we need to keep on adapting our signals. We’ve right now gone back to more standard signal phasing ... We implement, moderate it and collect feedback. And see how well it’s working.”
Traffic lights were installed on Main and Seventh Avenue in May 2014, replacing the four-way stop. On May 30, the Town initiated the DPP into the intersection. To have consistency and a co-ordinated signal phasing on Main Street, the Town switched the existing traffic signals on Main at Sixth Avenue to a similar DPP on June 26, 2014.
The systems were introduced as a balance of improving pedestrian comfort and safety, and efficiently managing growing traffic volumes.
However, some business owners in the downtown core are glad about Sunday’s change. Mike Gordon, owner of Stonewaters, says the standard signals are “consistent with most other lighting sequences” in Canada and the United States.
The Town or Canmore’s Facebook page also received feedback from residents regarding safety concerns and confusion at those intersections following DPP implementation.
As part of the switch to standard, the Town implemented a break at the lights, Johnson said, which allows a few seconds at the end of the green light phase for vehicles to turn left and right and clear the intersection without potential pedestrian conflict. He expects the Town will continue to tweak the traffic light system until they have a “good scenario with desirable results” for pedestrians and drivers.
A common complaint for pre-existing standard signal phasing on Main and Sixth Avenue, Johnson says, was vehicles had trouble turning at the intersection due to the steady stream of pedestrians. Sometimes this resulted in significant queuing of vehicles back to Railway Avenue.
“I think by the end of September we’ll make a tweak on the timing to resolve any issues that exist or just to improve things that we’ve realized can be improved upon,” Johnson said.
On June 10, 2014, Town council discussed signalization options on Main Street to breakdown and review timing plan options for the intersections and balancing pedestrian and vehicle demands. Operational scenarios considered by council included, standard, split phasing, early pedestrian termination, scramble, delayed walk, and low traffic operation.
