Medicine Hat staff defends intersection change despite business owner’s opposition

City officials said the changes for Sixth Avenue and Third Street align with best practices and rules for road design, and are needed for safety.

Kollectiv cycle studio owner Sabrina Moore, who has been against the changes as they remove some parking spots, said she was disappointed that council hasn’t intervened.

She said there’s a discrepancy in the data and that only five incidents happened over six years.

“They start off by saying ‘This is a high collision intersection, therefore we need to take away these parking stalls’,” she said.

“That’s been proven wrong time and time again now.”

Sabrina Moore. Kevin Kyle/CHAT News

Moore said any data she has, she’s obtained herself through Alberta Transportation and Economic Corridors — which substantiates her claims.

She said the City’s mind was made up about the intersection and the two parking stalls a long time ago.

“It doesn’t matter in the face of facts,” she said.

“They’ve set that intersection up to fail. It’s like a ‘Lord of the Flies’ intersection, so you can’t on one hand say ‘This is a really unsafe intersection’, but then do nothing about it. So I’m frustrated.”

Councillor Andy McGrogan asked city staff if other changes were considered.

Staff said other options were considered, and pointed out there’s a net zero change in overall parking stalls.

The City said in a written statement that it has concluded its assessment of the intersection safety issue, and is confident that its professional consulting engineers and staff engineers have provided the City with appropriate guidance on the matter.

“Although it is great to see that collisions may have tapered off in recent years, it is notable that downtown traffic patterns during the early part of this decade were substantially affected by the pandemic, with fewer people going downtown,” the City said.

Councillor Alison Van Dyke said people seem to believe that the City is making determinations on their own.

“I think it’s good to explain in the communications that there are federal transportation best practices,” she said.

“I’m not going to question federal traffic standards.”

The City said it is important to note that the Municipal Works department’s analysis of the intersection spans a sample size of 12 years.

“The longevity of this data provides a more accurate picture of the long-term trend of the intersection,” it said.

The City said it is great to see that collisions may have tapered off in recent years

It said that there could also be, for example, a couple of years where collision numbers peaked at the intersection — but said it’s “not fair to only take a couple years worth of data out”.

Moore said the City can’t just make the decision based on the facts that they’ve been given.

“Regardless of what data, statistics, common sense is dictating- that’s not going to prevail,” she said.

“If their minds are made up, then that’s what they’re going to do.”

The City said it will look to bring forward a budget request for council’s consideration in the fall of 2026 to update Medicine Hat’s parking strategy.

It said the intersection design changes will improve the level of safety for pedestrians and vehicles, while maintaining the current on-street parking levels in the area.

Van Dyke said the fact that the City has worked hard to find additional parking spots, and changed the length of time on spots that exist in the area, has been very helpful.

“It’s nice to know that there’s not a net loss, that [we] basically swapped out two spots for two others,” she said.

Moore said she is arranging a meeting with her lawyer, and said her reputation, “among other things”, is at stake.

“I’ve provided clear, factual information- and not only have I been dismissed, but I now find myself essentially accused of draining city resources,” she said.

“It seems that anyone who presents enough evidence to challenge or question the city is ultimately dismissed, blackballed, and labeled a ‘problem’ unworthy of their time.”

by Jayk Sterkenburg

Medicine Hat staff defends intersection change despite business owner’s opposition

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