Installing a pedestrian crossing at the intersection of Thatcher Drive and Fourth Avenue Northwest will be discussed by Moose Jaw City Council at budget time. 

Coun. Dawn Luhning put forward the motion to consider a pedestrian light signal at the intersection at budget during Monday night’s council meeting. Her motion passed unanimously. 

“That crosswalk crossing is getting quite busy up there on Thatcher and then there is the right lane that everybody goes by because when people turn left, going West on Thatcher and turning onto Fourth Avenue, it's getting pretty dangerous,” Luhning said. 

Coun. Doug Blanc supported the idea and even took it a step further. He felt more is needed at that intersection than just a pedestrian crossing. 

“I would have almost, and I understand that it's an extra cost, but there are times of the day I question whether we should even have a traffic light there to allow people to enter Thatcher drive off of Fourth,” he said. 

The city is currently putting together a traffic master plan to look at issues like this. City Manager Jim Puffalt said the biggest challenge would be logistics. 

“Logistics of that corner are pretty, scary is not a strong term, but they're not very good for pedestrians. We also had a discussion, as Coun. Blanc talks about, that maybe it's time for lights there because there are certainly times of the day where it's hard to get in and out of there,” Puffalt said. 

Coun. Crystal Froese was also in full support of considering a pedestrian crossing at the intersection. She was also hoping to see a traffic count within that report. 

“It seems to increase exponentially over the past couple of years as people seem to use Fourth Avenue to cut across to make their way downtown from that intersection as well. So, I'll be really interested to see what staff comes up with should this pass at budget,” Froese said. 

Budget meetings get underway on Tuesday with at 3 p.m. at City Hall with third-party funding requests.