Foothills County officials got to talk highways with Alberta Transportation at the recent Rural Municipalities Association convention.

Reeve Delilah Miller says there are concerns about a number of intersections and the effect median closures will have on the Okotoks overpass.

"We did discuss the intersection median closures as well as the concerns we brought forward on behalf of the Christ the Redeemer Catholic school division and the Foothills school division on the safety of the old Okotoks overpass, they call it the 552 (overpass) and so we were informed by Alberta Transportation they're right in the middle of doing a safety study on that overpass and so we were really pleased to hear that because it will certainly be a pressure point if those medians are closed in the future," said Miller.

She says the safety study should be complete early in the new year.

Miller says they also lobbied for lights at the Hebson Arena and Big Sky Barbeque Pit corner on Highway 2-A.

They'll discuss that proposal with the Town of Okotoks at their next Inter-municipal Committee meeting.

"We've got an estimated 70,000 people going down those highways, so 40,000 on one and 30,000 on another and that's a lot of residents travelling on those roads so we've got to be really proactive instead of reactive and so that's what Foothills is lobbying for."

The County wants to see the medians closed along Highway 2 at 306 Avenue, 338 Avenue, the Saskatoon Farm intersection and 370 Avenue, the intersection on the road east of Seaman Stadium.

She says if those medians are closed to eastbound traffic headed north it would make the overpass even busier than it already is.

 

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