Cycling through the city will be made safer and easier after city council recently approved the installation of bicycle lanes along the city's main thoroughfare. It could also provide the municipality with long-term savings in the maintenance column.
Construction will begin this year on the first phase of the 10-year Connecting Link project, which will include a 1.5 metre wide paved shoulder, which will eventually connect from Legion Drive in South Porcupine to Schumacher. The 1.5 metre wide shoulder addition was noted as the 'typical solution for bicycle lanes for a rural cross-section roadway.'
On the agenda for 2016 is a stretch from Highway 101 East's junction with Bruce Avenue, to Rae Hill.
Ideas for improvements and additions to the Connecting Link have been discussed countless times over the past few years in the council chambers. There has been a general sentiment to create a more bicycle friendly city.
A report prepared by consulting firm AECOM was presented to council on May 16.
"I guess the discussion is the safety of having bicycles and cyclists along the highway. Its one thing in areas where the speed limit is 50 or 60 kilometres an hour, but it's different where its 80 kilometres an hour, and the operating speed is probably closer to 90 or more," said AECOM's Ted Archuticz.
The estimated cost to pave the shoulders is $2.3 million dollars.
Long term benefits of fully paved shoulders include reduced maintenance costs on gravel shoulders.
Archuticz said, at a minimum, a partially paved shoulder would be installed, which is the current standard to protect the existing edge the thoroughfare lane.
The negative effects of not having the extra pavement can be seen in various stretches along the Connecting Link, with crumbling edges being eaten away by heavy truck traffic and erosion.
Councillor Pat Bamford has said that he drives all too frequently on the stretch of highway from South Porcupine to Schumacher.
"I know that every spring, into the summer, there are maintenance crews on the shoulders of that road. It can be after a storm, its certainly in the spring time, and I've seen them sometimes two weeks at least, full time, and even longer. There is heavy equipment and lots of guys," said Bamford.
He sees big savings ahead with the idea of paved shoulders, as well as improved safety for cyclists.
"That's why I think it's very important that we pave the entire shoulder in that section from Legion Drive to Schumacher. Because regardless of what we say around this table, every year there are people bicycling that route, and they're very close to the traffic. Likewise, people are walking," said Bamford.
He also called a section of Highway 101 from its junction with Bruce Avenue to Legion Drive the 'worst on the entire 101 highway'.
"It's awful, and its never been repaired," said Bamford.
The area has been the site of a few incidents in recent years, including a sinkhole opening up a year ago, as well as a life-threatening lack of winter maintenance.
The paved shoulder and cycling lanes are slated to be installed from Legion Avenue to the Bruce Avenue junction in 2017, along with the section from Rae Hill to Schumacher sometime between 2017 and 2019.
AECOM's study stated that there is simply not enough room to install bike lanes through the city's urban core. There is a tentative plan to install bicycle lanes in the far west end starting in 2023.
