In a 4-3 split vote, Town of St. Paul council defeated Coun. Ken Kwiatkowski’s motion to apply to remove rumble strips at highways 881 and 29.
To Kwiatkowski’s surprise, rumble strips were extended after the intersection saw traffic lights erected and the road was widened. If council decided to fill in the rumble strips, the Town would receive a work right of way permit from Alberta Transportation.
Councillors Pat Gratton and Don Padlesky joined Kwiatkowski in favour of removing the rumble strips. Councillors Norm Noel, Danny White and Gary Ward along with Mayor Glenn Andersen voted to defeat the motion. Noel said the strips could help alert drivers to the intersection. “If they save one life, they’re worth it.”
Both Kwiatkowski and Coun. Don Padlesky said they have heard numerous complaints about the rumble strips, which are typically used in high speed zones approaching a stop sign. “Just about anybody I talk to” complains about the rumble strips, said Kwiatkowski. “When the subject come up, they keep asking why? … I don’t see any use for them.” The lights can be seen from “a long ways away,” he added.
“I have been hearing the same echoes in my talks with people,” said Padlesky. “They question why we have rumble strips if we have lights there.”
At the intersection within town limits, traffic is controlled by the traffic lights, he noted. The strips are in a 50 km zone after a 70 km zone, he said.
After the meeting, Kwiatkowski said he supports rumble strips where they could save a life, but said he does not think rumble strips are necessary at the intersection of highways 881 and 29. He encouraged residents to contact Town councillors or administration to register concerns about the rumble strips.
According to Alberta Transportation’s recommended practices, adopted in 2011, rumble strips are not recommended where the posted speed limit is 70 km/h or less at stop controlled approaches.
“Within these environments, rumble strips are not required due to shorter stopping distances and heightened driver expectation of encountering stop conditions,” the recommended practices states. Rumble strips are not to be installed within 300 m of a residence, including in rural areas.
The recommendations are for “best practices” in using rumble strips but are not mandatory,” said Alberta Transportation spokeswoman, Heather Kaszuba, in a phone interview. Alberta Transportation recommends rumble strips in “dramatic stop conditions” on a highway at high speeds, she explained.
“In the case here with the signalized lights … the best practice would be the removal of it, but it’s not a concern from a safety perspective that they remain at this point. Alberta Transportation does not have a mandatory requirement that they be removed.”
While rumble strips could occur elsewhere in the province at a signalized light, it would be for the same reason as St. Paul where the rumble strips were installed before the lights, she added.
