Christmas came early for the residents of Sunnybrae, but they will have to wait for summer to receive the gift.
After years of complaints and activism from area residents, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure has decided to make interim adjustments to the approach of the Trans-Canada Highway at Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road.
“Our engineers have completed the review and I can confirm that we will be able to relocate the passing lane to begin west of Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road. This will involve constructing a dedicated right-turn lane for westbound traffic entering Sunnybrae Canoe Point Road,” wrote Steve Sirett with the Ministry of Transportation.
Sirrett says design work will start this winter and he expects it to be complete in the summer of 2016, although he notes funding for the project is still to be confirmed.
Opal Hendrickson, an area resident who has been advocating for improvements to the highway intersection, says she is thrilled the process is finally moving ahead.
“We’ve worked so hard and for so long, close to 10 years, so I’m so excited that we are close to this interim fix.”
Hendrickson says the area would benefit from being completely four-laned; however, this new upgrade will improve safety until that can happen.
The ministry has not indicated any sort of timeline on when a full upgrade of that section of the Trans-Canada Highway would take place, but it does not appear in any of the ministry’s short-term plans for the next five to 10 years.
Hendrickson says a flashing warning signal light is still in the works, but also won’t be installed until spring. The ministry recently completed the installation of new LED street lights at the intersection to improve visibility.