Roundabout should replace confusing intersection, says St. John's driver

One St. John's driver is frustrated with the intersection where Freshwater Road turns into Kenmount Road, and he's calling for a roundabout.

Ward Pike told CBC Radio's St. John's Morning Show he sees drivers cutting through the parking lot of Manna Bakery to get from Kenmount Road to Prince Philip Drive.

"It's wrong and, unfortunately, it's also the only way to really get through it in any timely manner," he said.

Pike said he drives through this intersection almost every day when he leaves work to pick up his son from school, and feels that people travelling down Kenmount Road needing to go to the Health Sciences Centre are in a tricky situation.

"If you have an emergency, the city would have you go almost a kilometre out of your way by going up Crosbie Road, by going across Wishingwell Road, coming back down the Prince Philip Parkway and then through the intersection again and all the way around." he said.

"It's a tremendous inconsistency with the way traffic is designed everywhere else."

No complaints to council

Coun. Danny Breen, who is chair of the city's public works committee, said he has yet to receive any complaints about the area.

"There's none that I'm aware of...I don't believe we've talked about it at Police and Traffic Committee," Breen told the St. John's Morning show. "I can't remember those discussions or having any information tabled there. So I've asked our staff to go back and have a look at it and check out the intersection."

According to Pike, a roundabout is the best solution for the congested area.

"You need 95 feet, approximately, to do a mini roundabout, and in an intersection like this you need 170 feet. Guess what? We have more than 170 feet here. It could easily be done," he said.

Team Gushue extension will help

One issue, though, is that a well-established roadway would need to be retrofitted to accommodate a roundabout. 

"Roundabouts are usually put into new areas," said Coun. Breen. "It's unusual that they'd replace existing intersections, mainly because of the capital cost."

He said some of the pressure on Kenmount Road should be alleviated soon even without a roundabout.

"When the [Team] Gushue Highway opens, it's going to change the traffic patterns around here a bit," he said.

"There's an expectation that there will be volume taken off Kenmount Road and this area, so one of the things will be to look at that, see what the traffic impacts will be of that and then consider this intersection at the same time."   

Better signage in the area might also be an option.

"That's one of the things our staff will look at now, now that we're aware that there is an issue here and people are using the shortcut," Breen said.

"If they're going through that commercial property, the private property, then obviously there's an issue here that our staff are going to review."  

While Pike understands the cost associated with roundabouts, he believes it is the best solution.

"We've all seen our taxes increase exponentially," he said. "They have to be spent on something. How about safety?"