Charlottetown wants to build better bike lanes on Fitzroy Street

The City of Charlottetown is considering building a dedicated, two-way bike lane along Fitzroy Street, to link Victoria Park in the west with Joe Ghiz Park and the Confederation Trail in the east.

The plan would cost an estimated $1.1 million, including construction of newsidewalks and bike lanes, as well asreconfiguration of some intersections.

The city hasapplied to Ottawa for just over $1 million in federal funding to offset the cost.

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"We're seeing a real push from the community," said Ramona Doyle, the city's sustainabilityofficer."There'sa desire to have more safe bike lanes available for people to use."

A local engineering firm came up with a preliminary plan last year, according to Doyle. It would see the dedicated bike lanes separated from motorized traffic on Fitzroy Street by a barrier, 0.9 metres wide.The barrier could includecurbs, painted linesand planters, accordingto Doyle.The bicyclelanes would run along the south side of Fitzroy Street.Some existing four-way stops would be converted to two-way stops.

Some of the existing sidewalkalong Fitzroy Street is in need of replacement, according to Doyle, because it is too narrow by modern design standards.

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The city is also involved in discussions to developa multi-use trail across theHillsboroughBridgeto link Charlottetownand Stratford.That project is not part of the bike-lanefundingapplication.

"This would really give us a nice connected network from potentially Stratford all the way to Victoria Park," Doyle said. "It would be a major increase in cycling infrastructure."

The city would also put effort into enticing more people to ride bicycles, according to Doyle.

Construction and demolition: $825K

"In addition to the actual infrastructure, we'd need to put work into programming and promotion in order to get more people using the bike lane and more people out cycling," Doyle said.

The city has estimated construction and demolition costs for the Fitzroy Street bike lanes at $825,000.Cost of design and engineering is pegged at $75,000. Other costs, listed on the funding application to Ottawa, include $99,000 in HST.

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