‘Death trap’ could meet its demise
City seeks proposal for Dougall to allow cycling, walking at notorious bottleneck
People are going to have to figure out a new name for the so-called Dougall Death Trap.
After years of study and negotiations, a request for proposals has finally been issued by the city — the first concrete step toward solving this “major bottleneck” hopefully in 2019, city engineer Mark Winterton said Wednesday.
The same day, city officials held a mandatory on-site meeting with firms interested in submitting proposals by the end-of-January deadline.
“We’re quite excited, I think this is potentially transformative for the community and a step forward for active transportation,” said Winterton.
Active transportation refers to non-automotive modes of moving, particularly bicycling and walking. He said the century-old CN Railway bridge spanning Dougall has been a “major impediment” for anyone walking or cycling between South Windsor and the rest of the city.
There’s no room for sidewalks or bike lanes on this narrow and extremely busy four-lane road. CN, the owner of the bridge, is now on board after six to eight months of regular meetings to figure out the logistics involved in building some sort of tunnel on the west side of Dougall to accommodate bikes and pedestrians. Council has set aside $4 million to $5 million for the project, though that’s a rough number that will be firmed up when the contractors submit their proposals.
“I’m quite excited this opportunity is presenting itself now,” Winterton said.
The project still must be approved by council and if the price goes above the original estimates, council will have to decide whether to spend the extra money. Members of Bike Windsor Essex are busy talking to councillors “about how important this is to the community,” the advocacy group’s executive director Lori Newton said. “It’s one of the most important projects that we have.” Dougall is a critical north-south route for people getting across the city, she said. And despite the risks, cyclists and pedestrians are using it every day and night “because it’s the only way to get through.” Newton is optimistic the new council — with four new councillors sworn in Monday — will be more interested in pro-cycling projects like this. Several of the newcomers to council went along on rides with Bike Windsor Essex during the election campaign to learn about the issues.
“We now feel we have a much more progressive council, more interested in building neighbourhoods including putting in bike lanes and cycling infrastructure,” Newton said.
One of those newcomers, Jim Morrison, whose Ward 10 includes the “death trap,” said he’s excited the project is finally moving forward. He had feared that negotiations with CN would cause continued delays.
“I walked through it last year and I was actually scared,” he said. “How anyone would want to ride a bike through on a regular basis is beyond me.”
What’s surprising is many people do walk or cycle through, often negotiating the muddy, narrow paths on either side of the road. Once the project is done, hopefully many more will be able to cycle and walk between South Windsor and the downtown, Morrison said.
Winterton said the request for proposals allows contractors to listen to what the city wants and come up with unique solutions. That might involve digging a tunnel using specialized equipment or digging a trench and then dropping in a culvert. The city and the successful bidder will have to work with CN to create a block of time (perhaps 72 hours) when train traffic can be stopped to complete the job. The work will include a multiuse trail on the west side of Dougall and north and south of the bridge. As well, the worst accident site in the city — where southbound drivers on Dougall must look almost completely behind them before merging onto Ouellette Place — will also be corrected as part of the project.
That merging situation will be eliminated, replaced by a T-intersection with traffic signals. Winterton said the city is hoping for five or six bidders who’ll sharpen their pencils and give a good price for the project. An environmental assessment conducted by Stantec Consulting in 2016 for the Central Box Study Area pegged the cost of the Dougall project at $5.3 million.