THUNDER BAY — The real test will come when construction on Edward Street is completed, but city officials say Thunder Bay motorists are doing a good job so far navigating Thunder Bay's first roundabout on a main city street.
The roundabout at Edward Street and Redwood Avenue opened over the weekend, after the city held a pop-up education event for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Imagine Films captured video of the session using a drone-mounted camera VIDEO
Thunder Bay Police have received no reports of collisions at the intersection.
Project engineer Matthew Miedema said Monday afternoon he'd heard no reports of any serious issues so far.
But he called the launch of the roundabout "a soft opening" because the city is still proceeding with construction on the Edward Street bridge as well as Edward Street north to William Street.
"So there's restricted traffic...It's nice to give the local traffic in the area exposure to it without the full volume you will see once Edward is fully reopened."
The construction projects are expected to be finished by the end of October.
Miedema said he's comfortable in the knowledge that people are taking care to learn how to use a roundabout.
There's been a good uptake, he noted, on an instructional video the city has posted on YouTube to demonstrate proper use of the roundabout.
However, to ensure everything possible is done to mitigate the risk of collisions, the city plans to install a camera at the intersection.
"We're setting up technology to watch and monitor the intersection. That will be going up shortly, and then we'll monitor it for 10 days to two weeks to watch how traffic is flowing, and watching any common issues we see," Miedema said.
Depending on what the monitoring shows, he said, the education program may be tweaked.
NOTE: A previous version of this story described the roundabout as Thunder Bay's first. Although it is the first one on a main city street, there is a roundabout at Marina Park as well.
