Traffic snarl in southeast Edmonton leads city to remove newly installed 4-way stop

The city has removed a brand new stop sign from the Maple Crest neighbourhood only days after installing it after neighbours rallied to protest it.

City workers removed signage from a new four-way stop on Monday, three days after they installed it, after the change at a southeast Edmonton intersection caused lengthy waits for commuters.

Waiting for a train to cross Maple Road was already a regular part of life for people who live in the Maple neighbourhood.

But on Friday, the line of cars got noticeably longer – much, much longer, thanks to the four-way stop the city had installed on the road, the only paved way in and out of Maple, at 12 Street.

“To get home, which is otherwise a five-to-eight-minute drive for me, took literally 40 minutes – no kidding,” Maple resident Mina Farrukh told CTV News Edmonton on Monday.

The delays affected virtually every driver in the neighbourhood and moved several into voicing complaints to the city.

The four-way stop was put in to make turns onto Maple Road safer.

Jo-Anne Wright, city councillor for the ward that includes Maple, said Monday she received hundreds of email messages about it.

“I’m glad residents reached out to me,” she said. “I was able to connect with our safe mobility team first thing (Monday) morning.”

By the early afternoon, workers were removing the stop signs.

Over the weekend, Wright reminded residents of another route into the neighbourhood ... West Railway Street connects with 17 Street a little further south. It’s also gravel, which Wright says needs to change in light of the stop-sign debacle.

“I’d like to see West Railway Street at least paved, maybe not up to urban standards, but let’s just … slap a layer of asphalt on there so you don’t have the washboard gravel road,” Wright said.

Such a move would require the city to budget for it, likely a decision left to council talks in the fall.