IQALUIT - A report to Iqaluit city council last week suggested putting a traffic light - Nunavut's first - at the Four Corners intersection in the heart of Iqaluit's downtown would reduce congestion at peak hours.

A consulting company measured traffic delays at the Four Corners during the three busiest periods of the day: 7 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 4 to 6 p.m. The company found the average delay was 30 to 40 seconds, according to consultant David Banks of iTrans.

The report also recommended establishing left-hand turning lanes in all four directions to improve overall traffic flow.

With a traffic light and left-hand turn lanes at that intersection, the average delay would be reduced to about 10 to 15 seconds, Banks told the council. The total price of the project would be $465,000.

This had one councillor critical of the recommendation.

"It's not like it takes anyone in town more than 10 to 12 minutes to get to work as long as they live in town," said coun. Glenn Williams.

Williams said his daily drive to work took him through the Four Corners, and the benefit of reducing the delay at peak time didn't match the nearly half-million-dollar cost to the city. Williams asked how bad traffic has to be before an intersection is considered congested. Banks said the calculations involved are complex, but at peak times the Four Corners exceeded that threshold by 40 per cent, especially at lunch and just after 5 p.m.

Councillor David Alexander brought up a study the city had done last year to consider a bypass road by the new Nunavut Court of Justice building.

City planning director Michele Bertol said the council had looked at that study and decided not to pursue a bypass road as a means of reducing traffic congestion because it would have cost more than $1 million.

In response to questioning from council, Banks and Bertol said the traffic lights would run all day and night, and not switch to flashing signals at night. Banks said studies have shown flashing signals cause collisions when they are near a bar. The Legion, Navigator and Nova are all within two blocks of the intersection.

Other recommendations include putting an eastbound left-turning lane at the high school intersection and a northbound, right-turning lane in front of the hospital.

Another set of traffic lights was considered for the hospital intersection, but the idea was abandoned. According to Banks, the hospital intersection might need traffic lights in 15 to 20 years.