Council for the Rural Municipality of Ritchot is pushing for safety improvements at a busy intersection in St. Adolphe.

Council has passed a resolution, asking for the province to put flashing beacons on the stop signs at the intersection of Provincial Road (PR) 200 and PR 210. That is a 4-way stop. The matter was presented by St. Adolphe area Councillor Jason Bodnarchuk.

Bodnarchuk says greater visibility is needed at that corner.

"There is definitely a lot more traffic going through there lately," he points out. "The better the visibility the safer it is for everyone."

Bodnarchuk adds it is also a safety concern for young children.

"The school now they are having issues with crossing guards in the morning there," he says. "So, there is no longer a crossing guard there sometimes."

Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen says St. Adolphe is a growing community. He notes pedestrian traffic has risen significantly over the past few years and the 200/ 210 intersection is lacking from a safety aspect. 

He says it is not that the province is not doing its job, but rather they need to come to a solution together for how to improve safety there. In the meantime, Council is hopeful that flashing beacons can go up in order to make that intersection feel safer. 

"We're looking forward to seeing that hopefully in the next month or two," adds Ewen.

According to the Mayor, there are not many crashes at that intersection. However, he notes there are close calls on almost a daily basis. 

"It is so busy there and the pedestrians and the kids coming to school and leaving school and the families walking around to get into old St. Adolphe from the newer development," he explains. "It's just crazy how many people are coming through there. So something needs to be done and I'm hoping this is a step in the right direction."

He notes though beacons are needed on all four signs, it is the two stop signs on PR 210 where they are most urgent. This is because of all of the foot traffic walking from north to south or vice versa.