Protected cycling lanes sought along Charlotte St.

Protected cycling lanes are needed along Charlotte St between Aylmer St. to Park St., say city councillors, even though the designer hired by council didn’t think those lanes are a good idea.

Councillors picked a redesign for that stretch of Charlotte St. that includes raised cycling lanes with a physical separation from car traffic, though it will mean the loss of lots of on-street parking.

The city’s hired street designer, AECOM, didn’t think it was safe to add the bike lanes because it would mean potential collisions between cyclists and pedestrians at intersections.

But councillors said they wanted the bike lanes because it’s a progressive and forward-thinking way to design the city.

“It shows vision. It shows leadership,” said Coun. Dean Pappas.

The city is about to dig up the street to install a new sewer along that particular stretch of Charlotte St. That’s also happening along 12 blocks of Bethune St.; it’s a largescale project that could begin this year.

When the city puts the street back together, it wants to redesign the streets so they don’t look exactly as they do today. Council thinks it’s a good idea to do upgrades, since the streets have to be rebuilt from scratch.

For Bethune St., the plan is for a linear park – in other words, a long, skinny green space with bike tracks and gardens. No more cars, for the most part.

Although Charlotte St. will be rebuilt to accommodate cars, councillors wanted the street to accommodate cycling, too. But that’s not really what AECOM had in mind, for Charlotte St.

Michael Hubicki, a landscape architect from the Whitby firm AECOM, spoke to councillors about a plan for forthcoming upgrades to that stretch of Charlotte St.

He said that since it’s a shopping district, protected cycling lanes along Charlotte adds potential for collision between cyclists and pedestrians. Foregoing the cycling lanes would be “much, much safer”, he said.

Hubicki also said that there will be a lot of on-street parking lost along Charlotte St. if they add protected cycling lanes. While there are more than 50 parking spots now along that stretch of Charlotte, it would go down to 18 spots.

Hubicki said some business owners along Charlotte said they would have to move if the on-street parking disappeared.

Mayor Daryl Bennett said no bike lanes would be “the appropriate way to go.”

“This is about moving traffic – and people – safely,” he said.

But Coun. Diane Therrien said Peterborough’s streets have been designed for cars for years, and now’s an opportunity to accommodate cycling.

She said the on-street parking and the Louis St. parking lot (which is going to be replaced with a new urban park) “are rarely at capacity”.

She said the city shouldn’t stick to the status quo, in this instance.

“(Protected cycling lanes) project a good image of what our city needs to be,” she said.

Coun. Don Vassiliadis also said he rarely has seen the Louis St. parking lot full, unless there is a special event nearby.

Other new features for Charlotte St. are expected to include buried underground wires, decorative lighting and 44 new street trees.