By Andrea Nicholl
Border City motorists should be prepared for a second summer of traffic delays and voided left hand turns along Highway 16.
Highway construction will prohibit all left turns and will reduce traffic to one lane from 62 Avenue to the west city limits until the end of August.
Transportation/Works engineer Kirk Morrison says the city hasn’t received many complaints as of yet, but understands motorists’ frustrations.
“It’s definitely some inconvenience that the left hand turns are banned and it’s certainly inconvenient for the travelling public when someone attempts to make a left hand turn and backs up traffic.
“There is a chance of early completion, but it’s fairly weather dependent and right now the contractors’ schedule provided to the city is to actually wrap the project up on Aug. 31 and they will be doing everything that they can to advance that schedule.”
Residents should expect major traffic delays and are encouraged to find alternative routes through the city.
Morrison suggests that motorists travelling west bound, attempting to access the box retailers, take a left turn at 62 Avenue where the advance left traffic signal time has been extended.
Motorists guilty of completing a left hand turn in the restricted construction zone will be fined $115 for the illegal turn.