Proposed Median Opening Serving an Existing Commercial Development Located at 350 North Town Road

I’ve had many residents and business owners call to see if there could be a safety improvement to the intersection of North Town Road and north bound Kenaston. Vehicles existing the shopping center (by Tim Hortons & Bridgwater Veterinary Hospital ) can only turn east. If drivers want to travel to Bridgwater Lakes, or Kenaston South, they must travel into Bridgwater Forest and navigate a U-turn at Hill Grove Point and North Town Road. Drivers don’t do that. Instead, because the median on North Town Road, just outside of Bridgwater Vet Hospital is set far enough back from the intersection, vehicles make a U turn at North Town Road and north bound Kenaston. One can see by the many deep ruts on the north side of North Town Road that this is a regular occurrence. There is a fire hydrant in extremely close proximity that thankfully has not been hit.

On July 10, 2017, I moved a motion directing the Winnipeg Public Service to review the intersection of North Town Road and Kenaston Boulevard to:

1. Identify possible infrastructure changes that will enable a west bound turn for vehicle traffic exiting the Bridgwater Town Centre shopping quadrant (located east of Centre Street and south of North Town Road), including, but not limited to:

• • A median cut in North Town Road, west of Kenaston Boulevard north bound.

When I requested the study, there was no south exit for the shopping mall – one was to be installed at Park East Drive. This would become the second exit to the shopping mall, and an exit that would allow drivers to travel west without having to do a U-turn at North Town Road and Kenaston.

On February 27, 2018, the Public Service provided a very comprehensive report (see Full report):

The engineers were not recommending a ‘median cut’ to allow exiting traffic a way to travel west because:

• Two left turning lanes (on North Town Road at Kenaston)  indicate a large volume of traffic making the left turn onto Kenaston Boulevard, as North Town Road is a major route for local residents to connect to the Bishop Grandin Boulevard/Kenaston Boulevard intersection. A median opening within the left turn lanes on North Town Road will cause significant traffic delays and safety concerns. It is expected that the eastbound left turn queues on North Town Road at Kenaston Boulevard will increase, as the commercial and residential developments in this vicinity have not been completed. It is possible that once complete, the left turn queues on North Town Road at Kenaston Boulevard will extend west of the proposed median opening, causing greater traffic delays and safety concerns if the median opening is constructed.
• When the study was done (2018) a secondary exit to the shopping center had been installed at Park East Drive. This enabled drivers  leaving the shopping center another exit where they could turn west.

As of spring 2020, drivers still are conducting U-turns at North Town Road and Kenaston. They are not using the shopping center’s south exit to travel west.    I have request a ‘no U turn’ sign be installed at North Town Road and Kenaston