Why Fitzroy Street?
CBCL’s Mark MacDonald says number of factors played into recommending location for two-way bike lane
Engineers considered many streets in Charlottetown before recommending Fitzroy Street be converted into a two-way bike lane.
Mark MacDonald, with CBCL Ltd., the firm commissioned by the City of Charlottetown to come up with a design for the proposed project, said Fitzroy Street made the most sense for a variety of reasons.
MacDonald gave a presentation on the proposed project during a public meeting hosted by city council on Tuesday night. Council has not made a decision yet on whether the project will go ahead.
MacDonald said Fitzroy Street provides a fairly direct route for cyclists between the Confederation Trail (where it comes off at Kensington Road) and Victoria Park.
He added that there are fewer intersection turning movements because it’s a one-way street, traffic volumes are typically lower and it is close to major employers such as the Jean Canfield Building and the Atlantic Technology Centre.
Other factors that played into it are that there are no angled parking spaces on the street and it is already identified as a designated cycling route.
Kent, Euston, Grafton, Water, Sydney, Dorchester, King and Richmond streets were also evaluated as potential locations for the bike lane.
“Water Street doesn’t provide a direct route from the trail to the park,’’ MacDonald said, citing one location, “while Kent Street has higher volumes of traffic and angled parking spaces so we ended up with Fitzroy.’’
He added that Richmond, Sydney, Dorchester and King streets