Selwyn Township has endorsed a reconstruction concept for Ward Street in Bridgenorth.
Jason Armstrong, on behalf of Engage Engineering presented a report to council outlining their recommendation for the reconstruction plan at Tuesday afternoon’s council meeting.
The project will encompass the majority of downtown Bridgenorth on Ward Street from Champlain Road to just north to the James A. Gifford Causeway.
Armstrong told council that the recommended project would include a typical three lane cross section on Ward Street from Gore Street to Bridge Street and a two lane cross section on Ward Street from Gore Street to Champlain Road.
Project highlights also include:
• Community Improvement Space on Both Sides
• New Asphalt, Curb & Storm Sewer
• No On Street Parking
• New 1.8m Concrete Sidewalk on Northbound Side
• New 3.0m Asphalt Multi-Use Trail on Southbound Side
The project also recommended new Stormwater Quality Control infrastructure be installed where possible to improve water quality outletting to Chemong Lake.
The timeline for the project was outlined as:
• Detailed Design concept: 2025
• Utility relocation: 2026
• Contruction: 2027
After the presentation, Coun. Brian Henry stated, “Essentially, what I’m seeing is that it appears there will be no major changes to what’s already existing. We are going to polish up the sidewalks and some of the amenities along the sidewalks within Bridgenorth... Is there any way that we can shuffle the street sweeping activities in the spring around to prioritize Bridgenorth and then have County services come in and put down some lines on the road.”
Henry continued by saying that he drives through the area every day and he finds it very hard to see the lines on the road on a good day. He suggested that by prioritizing Bridgenorth, that would help with traffic in the meantime while they wait for construction to begin on this project.
Staff responded by saying that they actually entered into a partnership with the County of Peterborough last year which they are continuing with this year. They will look into making Bridgenorth a priority through the street sweeping partnership as well as through the County pavement marking program.
Deputy Mayor Ron Black asked about parking restrictions and if there was a plan to accommodate parking needs if there they were to no longer allowing on-street parking.
Doug Saccoccia, manager engineering and design for the County of Peterborough said, “Through the detail design process we will have some conversations there to see if there are areas outside that we can enhance to provide that parking or to alleviate those concerns. So there’s definitely going to be some conversations going on through detailed design where we can mitigate it. Maybe even looking at the municipal lot in behind the little park there, maybe we can enhance it in a way to provide some more capacity. Those things we can look at through detail design.”
Coun. Mary Coulas asked about extending the sidewalk along Ward Street to go in front of the Fire Station there, stating there may be safety concerns for pedestrians in such a high traffic location.
Coulas was told that this concern was raised at the second Public Information Session that was held for this project last year and it was determined at that time that there were pedestrians already walking in that area that this would provide a designated area for them. In addition, they talked to the Fire Chief who agreed that it seemed like a good idea to put the sidewalk there.
The recommendation to endorse the plan in principle was moved by Henry, seconded by Black and was carried.
County Council will have final say on weather this plan is approved at a later date.
