Chemong Rd. widening aims to reduce congestion
Wright wants widening to six lanes instead of five
A plan to widen Chemong Rd. to five lanes will likely decrease traffic congestion, one citizen said at an open house on Thursday, but not much is proposed to make it safer to walk or cycle there.
Sara Whitehead was one of more than 40 citizens an open house Thursday at Northminster United Church where the city showed preliminary plans for Chemong Rd.
Whitehead said she’s pleased to see a multi-use trail in the plan (alongside the newly realigned Reid St.)
“But it’s still designed for those strip malls,” she said.
The $30-million, multi-year project involves widening Chemong Rd. to five lanes by adding a centre turning lane from Reid St. to a point 200 metres north of Sunset Blvd.
The project would also involve realigning Reid St. with Chemong Rd., eliminating the intersection that currently exists between Reid and Chemong.
Construction is expected between 2021 and 2023. In the meantime, city plans to move utility poles, make property acquisitions and put aside money for the project.
Northcrest Ward councillors An-
drew Beamer and Stephen Wright were both at the open house. Wright said the project isn’t ambitious enough for him.
“I think the scale of this project is too small,” he said.
Wright would prefer to see a road similar to Kingston Rd. in Ajax, he said: six lanes of traffic, plus a dedicated bus lane and bike lanes.
It would cost “a lot more” than $30 million, he said, but it would be “a good investment” because it would make Peterborough more attractive for commercial investors.
Kevin Jones, the city’s transportation manager, said widening Chemong Rd. to six lanes would be difficult and expensive.
Although he didn’t say how expensive, Jones said several existing commercial properties would lose their parking or drive-thrus to accommodate six lanes of traffic.
He mentioned Tim Hortons at Highland Rd., for example, which would pretty much lose all its parking.
“You’ve probably bought the business,” he said. “Six lanes can’t fit without buying up a lot of property.”