Third Bridge & Safety Improvements in CIP Transportation Proposal

Juell said that the proposal for this CIP was to put a place-hold on the project as the Transportation department proposed $5 million in 2027 to complete the design and obtain environmental approvals.

“It (the project) was always thought to be in the 2025 year timeframe, but with the amount of accidents that we have had and the congestion that we have seen I think that it is time in the next ten years to at least do a design so we know what that cost is going to be. Hopefully we can get some grant funding.”

He noted that another push for the project stems from the province’s lag in replacing the Highway 3 eastbound bridge, something that Juell said will not occur for at least another 10 years.

“Right now it’s over 50,000 vehicles per day on Whoop-Up Drive, which 60,000 will start to hit its capacity.”

Two main focuses within the department’s CIP goal of maintaining and improving safety was to address accessibility and mobility issues in the city.

Projects outlined under goal will be to build bulb-outs along 6 Avenue South, install pedestrian push-buttons and audible signals, install or replace accessibility ramps, and add on-street parking spaces.

To complete said projects the budget will receive a $500,000 boost per year for the next four years.

Construction on intersections is also in the works, with new traffic/pedestrian signals, geometric improvements and traffic calming measures. This rings out to the tune of $1.4 million each year. Juell said that this amount would also receive an additional $500,000 in 2020 and 2021 to assist with the instalment of the 6 Avenue South bulb-outs.

Under the category “Maintaining Safety,” the department is looking for approximately $1 million per year to construct pathway connections and develop bikeways within roadways, which is already outlined in the 2016 Cycling Master Plan. The reconstruction and surfacing of existing gravel roads including the upgrade and pave of Scenic Drive from 40 Avenue North north to city limits, requires around $1.1 million-dollars in 2018.

Throughout the presentation Juell shifted focus to local road improvements.

“That’s to improve our local road conditions and that is about a $900,000 to $1 million-dollar increase over next five years just to keep local roads from falling below an acceptable level of 50 per cent,” he said.

He stressed the importance of ensuring that the entire road system is maintained to their service level and not at the expense of arterial roads or collector road systems.”

The Transportation department also looked into the 730-plus kilometres of roads/lanes and 750-plus km of sidewalks/pathways, which need some TLC to better serve the increasing volumes of traffic and pedestrians.

Juell said that maintaining the current $500 million in assets well into the future and looking for investments that will play-out over the next 40 to 50 years is crucial.

“It’s maintaining our infrastructure in perpetuity, and it’s making sure our bridges aren’t getting to the state of what Quebec bridges are like,” he said.

An example of the proactive infrastructure investment can be seen in the department’s proposal for $5.1 million to go towards girder coating rehabilitation underneath Whoop-Up Drive in 2018.

Funding is also tentatively allotted for community street lighting railway, sidewalk, and paved lane rehabilitation. The department is also looking to swap 126 large information signs on arterial roads for minimum retroreflectivity signs to the tune of $500,000 in 2018-19.

Juell said that the majority of the funding, (more than $5-5.5 million) comes from basic municipal transportation grant, which is calculated from $60 per capita. This is also coupled with a tax-backed pay-as-you go portion coupled and offsite levies which are funded from the development community.

This CIP proposal will be debated for approval by City council to create the 2018-2027 CIP budget in the spring of 2017.

by Charlotte Morritt-Jacobs - (@morrittjacobs on Twitter)

Third Bridge & Safety Improvements in CIP Transportation Proposal

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