By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Wait nearly over for traffic lights at Broxburn and Highway 3 intersection

Nov 30, 2016 | 3:37 PM

LETHBRIDGE – It may have taken a long time to happen, but the traffic lights at the intersection of Highway 3 and the Broxburn Road are finally set to come online.

The plan is for the lights to be commissioned Thursday (Dec. 1), to start blinking Friday – to help prepare drivers for the change – and to become fully operational one week later.

Lethbridge County Reeve, Lorne Hickey, discussed the lengthy process for turning the lights on, acknowledging with a chuckle that they were supposed to become operational in December of 2015.

“It’s been kind of a thing of errors, because it took quite a while to get the connection to CP Rail [crossing arm signal], and then when we got the connection to CP Rail, somebody had borrowed all the equipment out of the box that runs the signal lights, so we’ve waited now three months for parts to get the signal box to work,” Hickey told Lethbridge News Now.

While Hickey noted that he’s happy to have the project finished, he says the greater satisfaction comes from knowing the intersection will be safer for motorists.

What's Happening in Lethbridge this weekend: April 19, 2024

16h ago

What's Happening in Lethbridge this week: April 15, 2024

Apr 15, 2024

Week-in-review: Street sweeping, policing in Coaldale and #SlowYourRoll

Apr 13, 2024

“It’s really tough to get across that road at times,” Hickey stated. “I mean there’s a tremendous volume of traffic on Highway 3, especially between Lethbridge and Coaldale, and at certain times of the day, it certainly will make a great improvement for safety for crossing that road.”

Hickey also touched on the speed limit change that will be coming, saying signs will go up soon to slow traffic before it reaches the intersection. It will drop to 70-km/h for 600 metres on either side of the lights.