An intersection upgrade project that caused local business owners to threaten a lawsuit against the City of Moose Jaw is moving along nicely as crews have moved in to work on paving and widening the area of Thatcher Drive and Main Street.

The project was first discussed back in the spring of 2015 in response to a report on the number of accidents at the very busy intersection.  The plan announced was to remove the traffic lights north of the Hillcrest Golf Course and close off that intersection by extending a concrete median to the Superstore/Peavey Mart traffic lights. To help increase westbound traffic flow, a dual left hand turning lane onto Main Street Southbound was included.

As a result, all northbound and eastbound traffic looking to access the East Service Road would have to travel north to Diefenbaker Drive, by the Western Development Museum, then travel back south to their destination. Westbound traffic could still turn right onto the service road by Bonanza but they would not be able to turn south in order to access the golf course.  They would have to drive north on the service road, then use Diefenbaker Drive to access Main Street, travel back south and then east towards the entrance to the Hillcrest.

At a meeting in July, Moose Jaw Police Corporal Blair Bucsis explained to councillors that something needed to be done and a major factor was two intersections within just a few metres of each other.

"In a ten year period at Main and Thatcher, we had 76 accidents of which SGI says that we've had 84 injuries... the average accident is $10,000 and you've got $840,000 just in property damage alone." said Bucsis.

According to a report from SGI that was included in the documents presented to councillors, the Service Road intersection that is just east of Main Street, is five times more likely to see a collision than the Main Street intersection. The report explained that on a "Collisions Per Million Entering" basis, there are 1.24 accidents per million at Main and Thatcher, while the number spikes to 6.9 accidents per million vehicles at the East Service Road intersection.

The report to council also highlighted the fact the pair of intersections don't follow safety standards since they are 50 metres apart, rather than the suggested 200 metre guideline. The document pointed out that when the intersection was originally designed, a median was included and subsequent studies have all suggested that a median is the best solution to the traffic snarl caused by the high volume of vehicles passing through the area.

With the paving work now underway to widen the Thatcher Driver roadway and to include a second left turn lane for traffic onto Main Street, the controversial median is still part of the project but is expected to come later in the final phase of the project that should be done in about a month.

That median actually caused a change to the original plans as an off ramp just to the north of the intersection was added and seemed to appease some of those who were concerned about the elimination of the golf course intersection.