City takes one more stab at fixing Albert & Gore airbag intersection

City Council will be asked Monday to approve a new stop sign on the northbound approach of Gore Street at Albert.

Carl Rumiel, the city's manager of design and transportation engineering, will also recommend the eastbound lanes on Albert Street between Andrew and Gore be reduced to one lane.

In a controversial decision four years ago, councillors agreed to remove traffic signals from the intersection, replacing them with a stop sign on Albert Street.

"Since the removal of the traffic signals, there has been a significant number of angle collisions," says Rumiel.

"There have been approximately 17 vehicle collisions per year at this intersection since the traffic signals were removed, which is a significant increase in vehicular collisions, almost all of which are angle collisions," Rumiel says in a report to Mayor Christian Provenzano and ward councillors.

This year, the city retained traffic engineering specialist CIMA+ to study the problem.

CIMA+ suggested these options for danger mitigation:

• convert the Intersection to all-way stop control
• convert the intersection to all-way stop control with one lane per approach
• eliminate the skew angle between intersection approaches

"The report states that at a minimum the eastbound intersection approach should be reduced to one lane with the all-way stop implementation," Rumiel says.

"Further, staff recommends that the eastbound lanes between Andrew and Gore be reduced to one lane, which is a continuation of the improvements implemented at the Andrew Street intersection."

"This can be included in the 2021 miscellaneous construction program. In the interim, the north lane on Albert Street can be blocked off by public works with concrete barricades. As Gore Street is a newly reconstructed road, it will remain two lanes for now and staff will monitor the improvements over the coming months," Rumiel says.