ABERCROMBIE, N.S.
Fifty-nine collisions. Five fatalities. Too many, believes Abercrombie Fire Chief Sandy MacPherson.
When members of his fire department get a call to an accident at the Trenton Connector intersection with Abercrombie/Granton Road, MacPherson said there is always a bit of apprehension.
“You don’t know what to expect,” he says.
Safety at the intersection which sees traffic approaching from four directions at 80 km/hr before hitting the signal lights was the topic of a meeting organized by the Municipality of Pictou County and held at the Abercrombie Fire Hall on Tuesday evening Jan. 29. About 75 people attended to hear from experts with the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal and share their thoughts on what’s made the intersection so hazardous.
Greg Chisholm, area manager for the Department of Transportation shared a bit of the history of the intersection and ways that it could be addressed.
Fast Facts
• Approximately 2,600 vehicles travel on the Trenton Connector daily.
• Approximately 4,400 vehicles travel on the Granton/Abercrombie Road daily.
• Between 8 per cent and 9 per cent of the vehicles that pass through the intersection are trucks.
• About 4 per cent of the traffic is tractor trailers, which Chisholm described as a common percentage.
Ideas discussed
Round-a-bout: Similar to the round-a-bouts in Stellarton, this would force vehicles to slow down to 20-30 km/hr to make it around. Round-a-bouts come at a cost of between $2 million to $3 million and would take the better part of a construction season to complete. While studies show that accidents still occur in round-a-bouts – and may actually increase, the severity of the accidents is dramatically decreased because speed is reduced.
New Glasgow Fire Chief Doug Dort said his department often responds to accidents as part of a mutual-aid agreement with Abercrombie.
“In my opinion, it’s the only solution that will work,” he said.
While the cost to build may be high, he believes it’d be worth it. “Talk to some of the victims,” he said.
Rumble Strips: These would be similar to what’s used on the Trans Canada 104 for drivers approaching the toll booth for the Cobequid Pass. The benefits of these are that it works well to get the attention of a driver who may be distracted or approaching an intersection too quickly. The down side, said Chisholm is that they create a lot of noise which can impact nearby residents.
Adjusting the timing of lights: Some have suggested a longer yellow or more time when there is red for both directions before the light switches to green. The idea is that it would allow more time for vehicles to go through the intersection before vehicles come from the other directions. Of all options, this is the least likely, said Chisholm because there are federal standards governing the timing of lights. Drivers also pick up on the differences and if there’s a longer yellow for instance might try to run the yellow more and in the end create a more hazardous situation.
Slowing traffic: The speed limit when you’re driving from New Glasgow to Abercrombie goes from 50 km/hr to 60 km/hr and then jumps to 80 km/hr before hitting the intersection with the Trenton connector which has a speed limit of 80 km/hr. One woman at the meeting who recently moved to the area said she personally found that confusing and suggested it would be better to keep it at 60 km/hr until after the intersection. Chisholm said he will have people in his department investigate that. Only a traffic authority can adjust the speed limit. He said that people often don’t pay attention to speed limit sign changes and there’s a natural speed that drivers tend to go on certain roads, that reducing the speed limit does nothing to deter.
“It’s not something changing a sign alone will give us the results we’re looking for,” he said.
Policing more: "There’s a saying, ‘You can’t fix stupid’, but you can police it,” said one woman who said she lives near the connector and rarely sees police. She said she believes if people knew that police were sitting there, they would slow down and stop breaking rules.
RCMP Pictou District Commander Addie Maccallum was in attendance and addressed that complaint and said that police do in fact police the intersection and that he personally had handed out tickets there last week. He said they could look at whether or not they’re spending enough time though.
Where do things go from here
The general consensus in the room Tuesday night was that a round-a-bout would be the best option for the intersection and several in attendance asked about how to get it on the province’s priority list. Chisholm said his department can put forward projects for their specific area to suggest they be looked at, but the final decision is made higher than him. He said the fact that 75 people showed up to the meeting, speaks to the level of interest in the project though. Warden Robert Parker suggested that it would be important for everyone to continue to pressure government to make it happen.
“There is a political component to a lot of this,” he said.
