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No work expected this year to improve safety of pedestrian walkway on Super A service road

Although the existing pedestrian walkway on the Super A service road was called dangerous last year by some members of town council, it appears no work will be done this summer to correct the situation.

The Super A service road has a walkway for pedestrians – outlined by a sometimes invisible line on the pavement – on the side of the street containing a number of businesses. Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Mayor Brad Mapes doesn't expect anything to be done this year.
"But we got a lot of stuff we're trying to deal with," he said. "You can see around town there's a lot of stuff happening."

For example, the town has seen street patching and the completion of the McRorie Road paving and sidewalk installation.

Mapes said the pedestrian walkway on the Super A service road may have to wait until next spring.

The mayor said council is waiting for information from administration on how to move forward with the walkway, and the town is awaiting information from the GNWT and the Hay River Regional Health Centre on how a walkway should tie into the new crosswalk across the Mackenzie Highway.

"So we kind of have to work with them," he said. "We have not heard back anything on that, so basically there's nothing I could add that would speed up the process."

Last fall, town council accepted an estimated cost of $140,625 to build a 2.5-metre addition on the west side of the Super A service road, and add signage and traffic barriers.

With the construction of the new Hay River Regional Health Centre just across the Mackenzie Highway, the town created a walking lane on the east side of the service road to connect with a proposed crosswalk, which was built earlier this year by the GNWT.

The walking lane on the service road is indicated by a line on the side of the pavement.

However, due to many vehicles accessing businesses on the east side of the road – including backing in and out over the walking lane – council expressed concern last fall about safety.

Along with the Super A grocery store and its convenience store and gas bar, other businesses and buildings on the service road include Hay River Suites, Monster Recreational Products, an engineering firm and a church.