A pedestrian pathway along Yellowknife’s Highway 4 is complete and open to the public.
That’s according to the territory’s Department of Transportation, which also plans to proceed with the design and installation of a controlled crosswalk near the new Chateau Nova hotel.
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The department says the new pathway connects with the city’s existing trail system and will ensure safe pedestrian access along the highway from Niven Gate to the new hotel.
“[The department] continues to hold safety as its top priority and encourages all pedestrians travelling between Niven Gate and the downtown to utilize this new pathway,” read a statement issued by the GNWT Friday.
Pedestrian safety along that corridor has been a real concern in recent years.
Last month, Yellowknife North MLA Cory Vanthuyne accused the territorial government of putting the public at risk by not taking safety seriously enough along the roadway.
“I continue to get correspondence from concerned citizens with regard to the safety of that stretch,” he said at the time. “Now we have two hotels there with visitors as well as higher vehicle traffic in the area.
“It’s becoming really concerning given that there is no delineations on the roadway whatsoever right now as it relates to painted lines.”
Wally Schumann, the territory’s transportation minister, said his department was actively working on the file at the time, but couldn’t make any firm commitments before consulting other stakeholders.
He also said a traffic study had to be completed before the government could commit to an illuminated crosswalk.
However, his department announced on Friday that it plans to proceed with the design and installation of a ‘controlled crosswalk’ at the hotel intersection.
