By Geoff Smith (@smithco on Twitter)

Roundabout favoured as plans presented for Scenic Drive North

May 23, 2017 | 5:56 AM

LETHBRIDGE – The tide may be turning in public sentiment regarding roundabouts in Lethbridge.

The city will present its preliminary design for Scenic Drive North at an open house Wednesday, May 24. The arterial road will eventually connect the current Scenic Drive with the future North-South Trade Corridor highway east of the city. It will at least partly replace the existing 13th Street past Hardieville.

“It’ll follow Legacy, then it curves over… kind of past Hardieville,” explained project manager Robert Kovacs. “Then it kind of hooks up with 62nd Avenue, which is the county road but it’ll eventually be ours. And that’ll ring right to 43rd.”

The plans that will be displayed deal with the stretch running from the 26th Avenue intersection to the entrance of Pavan Park.

One of the questions asked of residents at an information meeting in January regarded the type of intersections, including where Scenic Drive will cross 40th Avenue N./Blackwolf Boulevard N. Kovacs said two-thirds of respondents favoured a roundabout over a signalized intersection.

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“We’ve finally seen a shift in some of the public perception,” Kovacs said in an interview. “When I did the last project which was Garry Drive and we did a dual-lane roundabout there, there was a lot of opposition.”

Kovacs believes the existence of several roundabouts, including in Legacy Ridge, is helping acclimatize people to using them. While he wouldn’t confirm exactly what the plans will look like when shown Wednesday, he suggested those results helped shape the plans.

He added they also want to take the concerns of Hardieville residents into account. There are currently access points into the former hamlet a block apart along the existing 13th Street, and many of those will be removed.

“If we look at it, the old 13th Street is just an old township road,” Kovacs explained. “It’s barely a lane. And with the new Legacy Park being developed right now, I see a real need that something needs to be built, and have a new entrance and everything for it.”

The finance committee voted to include the section from Uplands Boulevard N. to 40th Avenue N. in the draft CIP that will go to city council for final approval as soon as Tuesday, May 23. The report indicates detailed design and construction would take place in 2020 if approved.

The open house takes place from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday in the gym of St. Teresa of Calcutta School on Mildred Dobbs Boulevard. The drop-in event will present preliminary designs, safety evaluations, and provide some information on the process and history of the project.