Town staff will be reconsidering their plans for the Sixth St. reconstruction project, following concerns from the community that the proposed design as it stood carried safety concerns.
In a motion put forward by Coun. Deb Doherty at the regular council meeting on Oct. 16, council directed town staff to reconsider the proposed design for the Sixth St. project to include one-way bicycle tracks on either side of the revamped street.
“This is a generational opportunity to install the best, leading-edge cycling facilities...and we have the chance to get it right,” Doherty told councillors.
The 1.3-kilometre stretch of Sixth Street between Hurontario and High Streets is due for watermain replacement to improve water supply and pressure to the western side of Collingwood via the Stewart Road Pump Station, and while the town is making those necessary repairs, it’s considering whether the streetscape as it exists now is the best route forward as the town explodes with growth.
Currently, a cross-section of the road includes two 3.3-metre vehicular lanes, two 1.5-metre painted, but not signed, bike lanes and 1.5 metres of sidewalk on the north side only.
There were five new designs for the street considered by staff for implementation for the project, however, staff originally settled on an option that would see two 3.5-metre vehicle lanes, a 1.5-metre sidewalk on the north side and a three-metre multi-use bicycle trail with both east and west lanes located on the south side of the road.
Safety concerns were raised specifically about the town’s plans to include a two-way bike lane/multi-use trail in the design, by both local cycling advocate Justin Jones and the town’s trails and active transportation advisory committee.
Jones referenced the Ministry of Transport of Quebec coming out in 2008 advising against building such multi-use two-way facilities citing evidence of higher crash rates for such infrastructure.
Collingwood’s trails and active transportation committee passed a motion at their Sept. 14 meeting calling on the town to gather a peer review of their plans for the Sixth St. reconstruction before proceeding.
During the Oct. 16 council meeting, committee chair Murray Knowles provided a deputation to re-iterate many of the points made by the committee, mainly a concern for safety should the town proceed with the standing design.
As part of his deputation to council back in September, Jones put forward an alternate design that included a 1.5-metre sidewalk on the north side, a three-metre grass buffer, two 3.3-metre drive lanes and two 1.8-metre cycle track lanes, one on each side of the street and both raised.
“This design is a win for our residents because it will maintain the trees and hydro poles,” said Doherty. “It reduces risks and conflicts for people walking or wheeling, improves safety at driveways and reduced complexity at intersections.”
This design will now be considered by staff as part of the motion passed on Oct. 16.
“As we redo our streets in our community through these major projects, it seems to me that we should be thinking about separating out cyclists from our cars and from our pedestrians,” said Mayor Yvonne Hamlin.
“If we are going to be an active transportation community and hopefully, over time, encourage more people to get where they're going by bicycle or walking, we've got to make it as convenient and easy as possible. This is our first opportunity,” she said.
Coun. Kathy Jeffery asked staff for an update on whether they had changed anything on the design as of now following consultation with Jones and the active transportation committee.
“How do we manage the costs within the project if the costs are adding significantly?” asked Jeffery.
The town’s director of public works, engineering and environmental services Peggy Slama said staff have considered changing the proposed width of the lanes from the original design so far.
“With respect to costing and the budget... we are at the preliminary stages of design. When we reach 90 per cent of the detailed design, there will be an engineer’s estimate on the cost,” said Slama.
Coun. Steve Perry spoke in support of the motion.
“If it’s a matter of a few dollars here or there, I think the bottom line is safety,” said Perry. “Safety, to me, is the priority.”
Councillors voted unanimously in favour of the motion at their Oct. 16 meeting, calling on staff to reconsider the design.
