Missed the meeting on New St cycling options Guelph-Burloak? Summary here

road dietOptions for cycling on New Street from Guelph Line east to Burloak range from painted bike lanes to boulevard paths/cycle tracks beside the sidewalk, with estimates ranging from a few hundred thousand to several million dollars.

These options were presented by city staff at a public open house May 24, to gather input. You can read the handout at the meeting on the city’s website here: New St Cycling

Broadly speaking the options are:

  • narrow the road (road diet) to install on-road bike lanes, either standard width or “buffered” with an extra width of paint. Depending on the road section, either a centre turn lane, or lanes of traffic would be removed to accommodate the bike lanes. A trial repainting of the road could be done to determine impact on traffic and cycling, at a cost of roughly $270,000.
  • widen the road to add two standard width on road bike lanes. All existing lanes of traffic would remain. Cost approximately $1 million.
  • Add a concrete bicycle path beside the sidewalk in the boulevard on both sides of the street. No impact on traffic or road widening; some tree removal required. Most expensive option at around $4 million. Part of the high cost arises because the existing sidewalk would have to be removed and replaced to lay the two paths, one for pedestrians, one for bicycles, side by side.

The costs are very preliminary and would be further detailed once an option is chosen and engineering and other studies are undertaken. But the estimates give a picture of the range of costs among the different options, from a few hundred thousand to a few million.

Staff will prepare a report for the July 12 committee meeting outlining options and costs for committee’s consideration. Recommendations will then go to council July 18 for a vote. Residents can register to speak at either meeting. Stay tuned for the release of that report.

You can also provide your input directly to staff here:

905-335-7671 ext. 7485

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