Yellowknife (July 16/03) - Drivers using the hospital access road as a detour around the Old Airport Road construction site caused Stanton staff safety concerns.

Harry Landry of Master Security is handing out notices to drivers asking them to slow down and take an alternate route. He says people are driving through the hospital too fast, and there is no speed limits posted. - Merle Robillard/NNSL photo

Detour signs around the sewer line repair area directed traffic onto Range Lake Road then Woolgar Avenue or Finlayson Drive, but drivers found a shorter way to go -- through the hospital access road.

Dennis Kefalas, manager of public works, said the sewer repair should be completed by today. Kefalas said this may remedy the problem, because the remaining construction on Old Airport Road will likely only require the blockage of certain lanes instead of road closure.

Donna Zaozirny, director of operations at the Stanton Hospital, said she noticed a lot of traffic coming through the hospital grounds and was concerned, "particularly because we've got people coming in here at very high speeds."

Zaozirny said she contacted bylaw enforcement to patrol along the access road to stop the speeding.

A hospital security guard was also placed on the access road opening to request drivers who did not have business at the hospital to use the proper detour route.

"The hospital grounds are not a public area to be used as a detour," said Zaozirny.

Catherine Mallet, municipal works engineer for the city, said Byrne Road becomes a private road for the hospital once it curves left towards the hospital. Mallet said the hill next to the Extra Foods site also becomes private when it come close to the hospital.

Kefalas said the city put announcements on the radio to inform drivers not to use the hospital access road.

Aside from the radio announcement, Kefalas said the city didn't act on the hospital concerns by placing a traffic director in the area because, "It would be hard for us to police private property."

Clem St. Croix, deputy fire chief, said the increased traffic on the service road posed a risk for ambulance and fire truck access "to a certain extent," but added the fire department always keeps tabs on construction sites in the city when determining emergency routes.

"There is always going to be difficulty with construction sites, we have to work around them," said St. Croix.