A motion to close the Second Avenue and Queen Street lane access in Rossland failed unanimously at the latest council meeting.
A petition signed by 23 residents asked that the lane stay open, despite safety concerns.
“Council undertook a substantial infrastructure project on Second Avenue in Rossland this past year, and we wanted some guidance from a traffic engineer, and realized that this alleyway was coming in at an obscure angle on to an adjoining street and we were concerned about safety issues.” said Rossland Mayor Andy Morel.
“The alley supports a number of residents from the rear of their homes and we were concerned that folks using it for auto transport were at risk of damage or injury from coming out onto an official street.”
“Council decided that the risk wasn’t worth it at this point to close it.”
The original study into the Second Avenue Lane and Queen Street intersection provided three options:
- To close the access for vehicle traffic to the lane at Queen Street
- To make the lane access one-way
- To leave the lane as is
However, the decision as been made to keep it open to two-way traffic.
“I think it was a good process. It was a conversation where citizens had their say and were provided that opportunity at council.” said Morel.
“Even though it was a staff recommendation that we consider closing it for safety reasons, it’s an old community, lots of funky roads coming in and out of alleyways etc.”
“We’ll continue to address them as one -offs, and of course, things can change in the future.”
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