Oct 24, 2013


The Salmon River Bridge plan and study, which included an assessment of the intersection of the Arden and Henderson roads at Highway 7, left many Arden area residents with concerns. An information session was presented by project managers from the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) and the design firm Morrison Hershfield Ltd. on October 18 at the Kennebec Hall, and many residents said they felt that the study failed to satisfactorily address their long-time concerns about the intersection.

While the proposed plan for the bridge replacement was overwhelmingly met with support, the fact that the Arden/Henderson Road intersection at Highway 7 is not going to be reconfigured was very disappointing to some residents. For a number of years many residents have deemed the intersection to be dangerous; they say that numerous serious accidents and fatalities have occurred there over the years.

Gord Brown, who resides on Kennebec Lake just north of the project area, said that he and other residents have been pushing the MTO for improvements to the intersection for years - specifically for the installation of left turn lanes. "They [the MTO] told us that the traffic and accident data at the intersection does not warrant the installation of left turn lanes but my position is - if they are going to spend time and money building the new bridge just west of the intersection, they should also take the time and spend the extra money that it will take to widen the highway and add left turn lanes to make it safer,” he said.

Brown said that the intersection is dangerous for drivers traveling west on Highway 7 who want to turn left onto the Arden Road but have nowhere to go when traffic is bearing down on them from behind. “The situation is extremely dangerous and it encourages drivers to rush what is already a very sharp left turn.” Brown said he and other residents put their improvement suggestions to the MTO in writing one year ago and a number of times since, which resulted in the MTO including a formal assessment of the intersection in the Salmon River Bridge replacement plan and study. The assessment included additional traffic counts that were made in the summer of 2012.

In the plan/study that was presented in Arden on October 18, it was stated that the intersection will remain as is and no changes are proposed for the intersection. The study states that “intersection modifications such as turning lanes or traffic signals are not warranted based on current and forecasted traffic volumes” but that the alignment shift of the proposed new bridge will “improve geometrics and sight lines on Highway 7.”

Right now the intersection has right hand turn lanes and a yellow flashing overhead light. Another resident I spoke to was similarly dissatisfied with the decision and said that traffic is heavy on Highway 7 on Fridays and Sundays and that is when the danger is most prevalent. “That's when 30 or 40 cars are all rushing along behind you when you are wanting to turn left onto the Arden Road. Ideally all of the cars behind you should come to a stop but instead they continue speeding along and instead of stopping, cross into the opposing right turn lane to get around you which makes things really bad.” He added that traffic will only increase as a result of the new development slated to take place on Kennebec Lake this year.

Thirty-year Arden resident Sarah Hale, though impressed with the new Salmon River bridge plan, also expressed concern that no changes will be made at the intersection. “I understand that there has been a very thorough assessment regarding the bridge replacement and I think that they have come up with a very good plan that seems very logical. My only concern is about them not making improvements to the intersection to make it safer.”

Hale said she did not know if the topography at the intersection could allow for anything different regarding the hair-pin turn from Highway 7 onto the Arden Road. “Nobody likes it (the intersection) but I would like to see something that does not require drivers to have to make sudden choices that can be quite uncomfortable and unsafe.” Hale said she knows at least two people from the area who were killed at the intersection and has heard of “several others who have either been killed or badly injured there.” She said that although highway improvements are always “a hassle no matter what you do; still, they have to be done.”

I questioned MTO project manager Chris Kardassis about why no changes are proposed for the intersection. He replied that the intersection is out of range of the study area, which he said lies west of the intersection and which concerns primarily the bridge site. He added, “We know there is concern about the intersection but the volumes [of traffic] don't warrant improvements at this time.”

Support local
independant journalism by becoming a patron of the Frontenac News.