Better safety at another unpopular Prince George intersection should come next spring.
Councillors and city staff have long been fielding calls for traffic signals at Ferry Avenue and Ospika Boulevard.
It's budgeted in the capital plan and this year the city is sending out a request for proposals to start selecting a contractor to design the signals.
"The engineering work is going to be done this year. Whatever upgrades to the lights and such that we're going to do are going to take place probably next spring," said Coun. Brian Skakun.
ICBC records for the site show 19 crashes between 2009 and 2013, nine of which caused injuries.
Last week, the province announced a dedicated left turn signal would be installed at the site of a fatal collision - on Vance and Cowart Roads and Highway 16 - by early fall. Between 2009 and 2013, ICBC recorded 104 collisions, 43 of which left people injured.
For over a decade, it has been ranked as one of the most dangerous intersections in Prince George.
"It's a wake-up call for everybody when there's a fatality on a local road," said Skakun in reference to the 15-year-old girl who died in hospital after the April 22 collision.
"The province has known that intersection at (Highway) 16 and Cowart has been a problem for years. They've identified it, and I think it's unfortunate that we didn't have the turn lane sooner, but I guess the big thing is it's a wake-up call for everybody and the city's doing all we can to upgrade our intersections when they need it, working within our budget."
While the city doesn't have jurisdiction over the highways, it does have control over the Ospika intersection.
After seeing several letters from concerned residents printed in The Citizen, Skakun said he was compelled to follow up to let people know the city is working to solve the problem spot.
"There's a plan in place," he said.
A 75-signature petition launched two weeks ago called for traffic lights to be installed.
"At this spot there is a blind corner resulting in an unsafe piece of road for travellers. Ferry is also an access point for Ginter's dog park so controlled safe access would be ideal," reads the petition, which will be submitted to the City of Prince George.
Before construction can begin, the area needs to have a traffic counter to monitor traffic flows, said city spokesman Mike Kellet by email, noting construction was scheduled for 2017.
That will inform what design the city chooses for the signals.
"It is anticipated that the design will include a dedicated left-turn signal, but whether it is a 'protected' left-turn or a 'permissive' turn signal will depend on the results of the traffic study," Kellet said.
The first option means vehicles can only turn when their green arrow is lit, whereas with the permissive left-turn, drivers wait for oncoming traffic to pass before completing a turn.
Kellet said the city will review how the signals are working with the traffic flow after several months, by doing a traffic count.
"When traffic signals are first constructed, the amount of traffic can be affected Therefore, the city may later 'tweak' the signals to ensure they remain the optimal design for that intersection," he said.
If residents have complaints about other intersections, Skakun said they can reach out to councillors but a better bet would be to call city staff at 561-7600 where they will log the request immediately.
"Traffic safety is definitely important," Skakun said.
"I think overall... we're concerned about intersection safety to start with and have been for years."
