New Oliver Road traffic lights to be considered for next budget

City council approved a call for traffic signals to be considered in the next budget Monday night.

Coun. Iain Angus said most people driving out of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre are stressed out, and having to turn left onto Oliver Road adds to the frustrations.

"We’re lucky we haven’t had any major accidents there but it’s bound to happen," Angus said.

But Coun. Ken Boshcoff questioned whether the city really needs more traffic lights. With the city constantly adding, Boshcoff wanted to know if there was a plan to reduce the amount of lights around Thunder Bay.

"It’s pretty hard to go any distance anymore without coming into a traffic light," Boshcoff said.

City engineering manager Pat Mauro said the city has actually removed four sets of lights since 2005 and have an ongoing analysis every three years.

The Oliver Road signals would be on a sensor so they would only turn red on Oliver Road when a vehicle was turning out of the hospital.

While some councillors wanted a pedestrian only signal, Mauro said the cost of that system is almost as much as a full set of traffic signals.