Community Correspondent

Canstar Community News - ONLINE EDITION

Some explanations from the City traffic manager

By: Kristi Anaka

Posted: 11/28/2012 1:08 AM | Comments: 0

City of Winnipeg traffic manager Luis Escobar says that traffic conditions and problems in Waverley West are continually being monitored. (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES) Photo Store

Residents of Bridgwater Forest have recently remarked that it can be challenging to exit the area at certain times of the day — especially in the morning — due to a backlog of traffic onto Waverley Street.

So, I contacted Luis Escobar, manager of transportation for the City of Winnipeg, to ask him a few questions about traffic concerns in the areas.

He suggests that the backlog will improve with the recent opening of part of the Kenaston Boulevard extension.

"The congestion in Bridgwater Forest at the intersection of Waverley and Arbor Meadows may be affected by the available entrances/exits into the community," Escobar said in an email.

"Up until recently, there was only one significant entrance/exit available and this created a lot of pressure for this one intersection to handle most of the traffic coming out of the community.

However, now I believe there is another entrance/exit which is at Route 90 which may be a suitable option for a lot of the residents of Bridgwater Forest. "

Responding to observations that the turn signal at Waverley Street and Bishop Grandin Boulevard allowed only a few cars to turn onto Waverley Street, Escobar said:

"We modified the timings at this intersection over the summer to let the traffic signal distribute the available green time based on the queue lengths.

"So, using sensors embedded in the road, the traffic signal monitors the length of the queues and makes a number of calculations to estimate how to best distribute the available green time for each direction of traffic.

"We know that the community is developing fast and we are collecting relevant traffic data to make sure we can adjust the timing to reflect the new and upcoming demand at signalized intersections.

"So, changes will be implemented in the future with the intent of adequately meeting (as much as possible) the needs of the public."

When asked if the City of Winnipeg plans to lengthen the timing of lights at the Waverley Street and Bishop Grandin intersection, Escobar explained that it is complex:

"The overall time can be increased but we don’t do this in isolation. The overall time for every signalized intersection must match or be related to the overall time of another signalized intersection along that road (i.e., if one intersection has 60 seconds as overall time, another intersection cannot be 120 seconds or 90 seconds).

"The reason for this is because this is a way to help facilitate the synchronization of the traffic signals. If the overall time doesn’t match, synchronization is compromised. Increasing the overall time too much beyond 120 seconds is not something that is done in many jurisdictions with extreme weather conditions."

Kristi Anaka is a community correspondent for Waverley West. You can contact her at kristianaka@gmail.com.

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