Intersection Improvements

The Intersection Improvements Survey is open until April 13 and is located at the bottom of the project page under the heading "Survey."

If this is not the survey you are referring to, then please send us a new message at engagement@cityofgp.com. 

There is a considerable body of evidence that confirms the correlation between increased law enforcement and a reduction in road traffic collision severity. A few of the many excellent sources of information include: Highway Safety Manual, Crash Modification Factors Clearinghouse, Traffic Injury Research Foundation, Transport Research Laboratory, Capital Region Integrated Safety Partnership, and the World Health Organization. 

This project focuses on managing future growth for when the City’s population grows to 90,000 and 120,000 residents. It is normal practice for municipalities to plan for future events as failing to do this will lead to additional constraints and cost increases at a later date.

The Intersection Improvements project is looking at long term population horizons and determining what the intersection will look like when it has to accommodate the higher demand at a population of 120,000. Recent projects in the intersection vicinity included an overlay to add longevity to the driving surface, traffic signals which are planned to accommodate future lane widening, and deep utility upgrades. Road geometric improvements were not conducted and long term planning is required to make informed decisions. 

The duration of the green time varies according to traffic demand, on each approach. Adding additional green time to one approach is likely to have a negative impact on other approaches. The green times are usually optimized to minimize delays although, when intersections are located close together it is usually better to coordinate signal times to enable ‘platoon progression’ through adjacent intersections. Traffic signal plans do vary by time of day and day of week. 

Unfortunately, at high volume locations like Staples corner, Costco and the Pomeroy intersection, it is not always possible to serve all traffic demand during peak periods as some approaches are oversaturated. The City’s Engineering and Transportation departments are looking at ways of increasing capacity, without compromising road safety.

The City of Grande Prairie has yellow lights at all signalized intersections. The duration of the yellow period varies according to the posted speed on each approach. The yellow periods are consistent with those used in other municipalities in north America and are published in the City’s Design Manual. If the question is in regards to advance waring signals (AWS) they are normally installed on high speed approaches (>70kph) or when sight lines are compromised because of a curve in the road, the brow of a hill, or when the signals are masked by a structure (eg. bridge or building).