pen them up Your last chance A cabinet minister says you'll get: | to sit in on upcoming Nisga’a . | treaty talks\PAGE A7> This Friday is the deadline to nominate people for Volunteer of - the Year\COMMUNITY B1 WEDNESDAY. - APRIL 10, 1996 Medal winners Bantam youth bring home the bronze medal after provincial competitions\SPORTS B6 _ 93¢ PLUS 7¢ GST VOL. 8 NO. 52 City wants to light up your life — THE PLAN for the future of the Hwy16 stretch known as Keith Ave, calls for a series of traffic lights to break up con- gestion along the heavily travelled strip council members heard at a meeting last week. Katum St. would likely be the first in- tersection to get lights —— possibly as early as next year — and that one can’t come fast enough as far as city council is concerned, “J don’t know how much busier it needs fo get and how many more acci- dents we need to have before you guys put lights in there,’’ councillor David Hull told highways planners at a meeting Thursday. Eventually traffic lights would be in place at the intersections of Kerr St, Kalum St., Hall St. and the south end of the Sande Overpass. But the most controversial part of the plan is the idea of developing an access road along the CN Rail lands behind locations like A & W and ICBC, Highways planners hope the rear ser- vice road could provide an alternate way of getting to businesses, reducing the fre- quency that esatbound drivers try to turn lefi and tie up traffic. If the rear road works, they may even close off highway access to some of the businesses and agencies along the north side of Keith. City council is already feeling heat from business operalors along the strip that don’t want to lose access to the highway. “Tl could sce a tot of excitement if you open up the rear and say. you ‘may’ or ‘may not’ close the front,’’ councillor Ruth Hallock told highways planners. “May is a big word.” Also under fire are highways ministry suggestions that they are looking at clos- ing highway access to Cramer St. and Keefer St. Developer Glen Saunders told council- lors that would scuttle his tentative deal with unnamed Alberta-based developers to build a 38,000 square foot retail store behind his Kermodei Trading outlet. “Tf they don't have approval for roads, we don’t have a deal,’’ Saunders said, Councillors said they would also like to keep the Cramer St. highway access open, noting there are tentalive plans to repave, curb and gutter Cramer if homeowners there are in agreement. improve Cramer St, and have the freshly paved street stop at a dead end just be- fore the highway. Fisher stressed they’re planning for the long term. ‘‘This is what we're looking al when there's 20,000 people here and 15,000 people over there (in Thornhill) trying to drive back and forth,’? he said, But city planner David Trawin noted both prospective developers and the city need some confidence about what path is being taken now in order to plan effec- tively. The matter is going to be discussed . again ata city council committee of the Hallock said it would be ludicrous to . whole meeting Monday night. Please, please let it be quick FOR THE SECOND straight summer, local drivers are in for several weeks of highway construction delays. Highways officials have tentatively sct May 1 to July 15 as the dates for the re-paving of nine kilometres of Hwy 16 from the Kenney St. intersection all the way through town and west almost to the Copper River. “With this, of course, comes major traffic disruptions an “and delays: and inconvenience,” said highways ministry ‘@ project manager Bob Penner last week. Last year’s re-paving of the new Skeena River bridge delayed tourists and frustrated local drivers and business owners. Unlike the 1995 bridge backups, however, taffic will continue to flow all the time during construction, . Most of the lime road crews will have at least two of the Fe four lanes on the highway open while work proceeds. one Occasionaily drivers will have to take turns altemaling on one lane. City engineering director Stew Christensen predicts traf- fic tic-ups won’! be bad this year, because most four lane sections of the highway wilt have two lanes open even dur- ing construction, and because there won't be as great a dis- tance between flag people.as there was during the bridge work. ‘“‘There’s going ta be some inconvenience — there’s no doubt about it,’’ Christensen said, Ii’s not known precisely when work will start, Penner said that depends on the schedule of the successful bidder. Bids on the project are opened Apr. 23, Penner said the contract is written to make it possible to have workers continue work at night, Highways ministry spokesman Marcelle Harapiak said they'll try to keep people updated aboul where they're working and how to avoid traffic jams. The paving project will also fix ruts by deep drilling the road bed and pouring 10 inches of concrete at major inter- sections with Kenney St, Eby St., both ends of the Sande Overpass and the four-way stop in Thornhill. Traffic lights will also be put up at the Kenney St. inter- section, A lange power pole will also be removed from that intersection to make it safer. Better street lights are also planned for the Hwy 16/37 intersection. Mayor Jack Talstra suggested the ministry consider doing the four-way stop in Thomhill first, thereby paving the way for some tourists to detour through town and avoid Shovel time GROUND BREAKING ceremonies take place this Saturday for an additlonal 18 units at the Skeena The right note’ MARY WARNER will be competing for the first time in the Pacific Northwest Music Festival which started yesterday and runs till April 20, She's been playing the violin for just eight months now. A detailed schedule of the music festival Is available at Sight and Sound focations around the northwest, Organizers are advising everyone to get their tickets early for the Gala Night, on April 20. That's the night when students recommended by the adjudicators will be performing. se Police assembling list of possible radar spots WATCH OUT if you like speeding along Krumm Road in Thornhill, Halliwell on the bench or along Keith Ave. in Also on the tentative list for Terrace and area are Old town. Those locations and more are on the list of tentative sites for the province's new photo radar vans. Al $70,000 a piece, the north is to get three such vans and two sets of pholo radar devices, Theyll be based in Prince George. Photo radar works when a picture of a speeding vehicle is taken after a radar device triggers the camera. A tickel is then sent to the driver of the vehicle. ‘“‘l must emphasize that these are tentative locations, I can’t say if they will qualify until they sre evaluated,” one of the photo radar specialists, Consteble Doug Leshures said recenUy. He or other officers assigned to the tiorth's photo radar unit are due in Terrace. later in the year to do the on-site evaluations. The tentative locations were chosen by local traffic of- ficers as being subject to a high aumber of speeders or were there are a significant number of accidents, Photo radar is being introduced by the provincial govern- ment as one way to slow down speeders and thus prevent injury or death causing accidenls, © © : Lakelse Drive, Kalum Lake Drive, a scction of Lakelse, Hwy16 and Munroe, 5300 Block McConnell, Kalum in the city and Skeenaview Drive. One van and camera unit will be kept within a day’s drive of Prince George while another van and unit will be circulating through the rest of the north, ‘ “These units can take 300 pictures of violators an hour,”? Said Leshures of their capability. Eventually there’ll be six constables and one sergeant assigned to the photo radar unit. Speeding tickets carry a $100 fine, rising 10 $150 for ex- cessive speeding (40km over the posted specd limit). Because the cameras can’t prove who is driving the vehicle, points aren’t placed against ils licensed owner, There will be tolerances — 10 kilometres an hour in a 90 kilometre zone, for instance — but officers will adjust ac- cording to road and weather conditions, visibility and gen- eral traffic flow. ; Leshures and other officers are already testing the photo radar units in and around Prince George. Norther drivers can expect tickets in the mail when the program comes ful- ly on stream by early this summer. po VISIBLE FOR now but not when installed in a van Is this photo radar unit. That's RCMP Sgt. Mike Clarabut. He's in charge of the units. Kalum Housing Society’s complex on Haugland. The units arc expected to be completed this fall with capital costs covered by a $2.1 million loan from the provincial housing manage- ment commission. As with the first units opened nearly two years ago rents are based on income. Four of the units will have two bedrooms, eight will have three bedrooms, four units will have four bedrooms and there are two wheelchair accessible units containing three bedrooms. The new units aré ex+ pected to help ease the tight rental accommodation market in Terrace,