AIRDRIE – It turns out you can fight city hall, at least in Airdrie.
After nearly 1,400 Airdrie residents signed an online petition demanding the sign be moved or removed, the city’s Traffic Advisory Committee met to review the signage at the exit from Cooper’s Town Mall on to 40th Avenue.
It determined the sign should be moved, approximately 15 metres.
Presently, motorists leave the mall parking lot and cross the public sidewalk before arriving at the stop sign, set up at a spot approximately 15 m down a hill.
It will now be moved up the hill, stopping drivers before they cross the sidewalk.
The issue first began when Airdrie resident Marcus Elford posted about a ticket he received for driving through the stop sign.
He told CTV News he stopped at the crosswalk, but not the sign, and police slapped him with a $388 ticket.
When CTV News crews watched the site, most drivers stopped at the crosswalk before proceeding, bit fewer than one in 10 stopped for the actual stop sign.
Elford successfully fought the ticket in court, citing sections 37 of the Alberta Traffic Safety Act, which states:
Stop signs
37. A person driving a vehicle that is about to enter onto a highway from another highway that is marked by a “stop” sign shall bring the vehicle to a stop
(a) before entering on the intersecting roadway and at a point no further than 3 metres back from the intersecting roadway, or
(b) in the case where there is
(i) a marked crosswalk on the near side of the intersection, immediately before entering on the crosswalk, or
(ii) a marked stop line on the near side of the intersection, at the stop line
The day after he beat his ticket he got a call from the city, stating it would review the signage.
The city says the sign change will take effect within the next two weeks.
