No pedestrian crossing sign on the intersection of 13th Ave SE and Trans Canada Way, where a crosswalk used to be in operation

By Lisa Parent

Hatter pushes city to add crosswalk on Trans Canada Way

Aug 18, 2023 | 10:46 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Walking and biking are two ways Hatters try to help the environment and save money on gas.

Sandy Halldorson and his wife cross Trans Canada way near the Rona to get to their gym everyday. After they cross they walk on the grass because there is also no sidewalk on the south side of the road.

“The only way for us to get across is to walk on the north side of Trans Canada Way, and then basically jaywalk and hopefully make it through traffic. There’s four lanes of traffic, you can see it’s a very busy street,” explains Halldorson in front of the road.

Halldorson contacted the city in January to see if something could be done. One proposal he made was to put an activated crosswalk in front of the Rona across to the other side.

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Stan Nowakowski, Manager of Engineering at Municipal Works Department says with 11,000 vehicles utilizing the road everyday, it’s not an option.

“We took a look at placing a crosswalk along Trans Canada Way and it didn’t meet our warrant analysis.We do a warrant analysis based on current industry standards and engineering best practices. It’s not a safe place to put a, a crosswalk and that’s because of the vehicle volume,” says Nowakowski.

Another proposal made by Halldorson was to reinstate the 13th ave crosswalk, and the city will look at that option. However, it may take until 2024 to get started because a sidewalk will have to be added to the south side of the road.

“We have to wait until the development of the corner lot. There’s a construction activity going on at that corner lot, and we don’t want to set up a crosswalk there until that construction is completed,” Nowakowski says.

He adds, “now, there is no sidewalk on that south side of Trans Canada Way. Once that construction is completed there we will look to install a sidewalk along that side.”

Halldorson says for the next year, his only options are to jay walk or drive to the gym.

“We shouldn’t have to drive to the gym in a city of this size. I saw an article just yesterday about how they’re trying to make an accessible city. And I think this is an easy solution. Solution so people can walk to the gym.”