Thousands of Airdrie drivers say they're concerned about new stop signs that have been installed on Highway 566 and Range Road 11.

The new stop signs were put in on Wednesday morning (January 24th), but many were not aware that they even existed.

Kelly Crispens lives on an acreage near the intersection and says the new four-way stop has actually made things worse.

"I think they have just failed the whole intersection altogether. They're trying to improve it because it definitely is a bad intersection. This, as what they call a temporary fix, has actually made the intersection more dangerous than what it was prior to that stop sign going in there."

Crispens hopes that a solution will be found sooner as she's already seen some close calls at that intersection.

"People are flying through that stop sign. It's 100 kilometres. There's no reduction in speed leading up to that intersection, there's no rumble strips, there's no flashing lights on the stop sign. It's totally, totally dangerous."

Meanwhile, Airdrie MLA Angela Pitt says her office has been flooded with calls and concerns regarding the four-way stop. One of the biggest concerns she's heard is how quickly these stop signs went in.

"This thing kind of came in overnight. There was no warning, there's no 'stop sign coming soon'. There's a lot of safety concerns. To, overnight, put a stop sign in the middle of the highway raises many concerns in and of itself."

Pitt has been in contact with Alberta Transportation and says there is a plan to install flashing lights and rumble strips within the next couple weeks.

In the meantime, Airdrie RCMP say they are enforcing the stop signs despite the number of complaints they've received about the signs and the tickets they've handed out.

Cst. Dan Martin says that until more safety features are added to the intersection, drivers need to be patient.

"We just want the public to understand that there is growing pains with a new sign going up. The government is working hard to improve that intersection. It is a high traffic intersection and a stop sign helps with slowing the traffic down and increasing motorist safety."

We reached out to Rocky View County who said as the road is a provincial matter, there's no new information they can provide.

 

READ MORE

Alberta Transportation Installs New Stop Signs At Problem Intersection

Rocky View Intersection Is A Safety Concern For The City Of Airdrie

 

Questions, comments or story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com