216th Street Corridor Presentation to Council

[burd...@shaw.ca]

Dear Neighbours

Some of the highlights from the presentation by Robbie Lew (Urban Systems consultant for the corridor study and the subsequent design proposals), and Paul Cordeiro and Mr. Yang of the TOL engineering department, are as follows:  I apologize in advance for any errors that I have made.

• the forced right turn at 88th Avenue will be removed to accommodate the future triple A bike lanes (all ages and abilities = Triple A) and its elimination will shorten crossing distance
• 91^st Avenue pedestrian light will be fully signalized
• the east side near the 91^st Avenue light will be widened
• Left turn lane will be added at 91^st Avenue
• Protected bike lanes will be installed on both sides of the road
• the public expressed concern regarding parking and the speed of vehicles
              -in response to these concerns the parking allotment in the design has been increased by 14% to 124 parking spaces, but few spaces will be available between             88^th Avenue and 90^th Avenue.  
              -the design of the boulevard and the narrowing of the road should help to slow down traffic. 
• More pedestrian crossings are being proposed to facilitate crossings for those parking north of 91^st Avenue. (not sure where they are or if permission will be given by TransLink)
• the realignment of 216^th and 96^th Avenue has been budgeted for but will likely not get underway until late 2026 because of various approvals and permissions that must be obtained from other governments and agencies before construction is able to start.

Cost Estimates:  The TOL and Urban Systems estimates that the cost associated with the changes to 216^th street is $6.97 million and the cost for the realignment at 96^th Avenue is $2.42 million.  80 -90 % of the cost for the corridor should be covered by development cost charges.  $1.7 is projected for land acquisition.  Money may or may not be available from TransLink for two reasons:

      1.  TransLink is having funding difficulties and may cut its contributions to active transportation infrastructure and MRN roads

      2.  The contributions from TransLink, if they are available, have to be prioritized by Township and this project may be of a lower priority than, for example, Fraser Highway improvements. 

The longer things take to build the less likely the actual costs will fall within the estimates.  

Council referred the presentation to the budgeting process for this year.  (This is important!!!)

It was pointed out by the Mayor and agreed to by Mr. Cordeiro that it is somewhat incompatible to design an arterial road that is both best for active transportation (cyclists and pedestrians) and that also provides plenty of parking for cars.  The mayor noted that this stretch of 216^th Street is unusual as an arterial road in that it allows for parking.  The vast majority of arterial roads in the Township have no parking along them.

Kudos to all the people who came out to the open houses and who also participated in the surveys.  Your comments did make a difference to the ultimate design.  I encourage you all to view the presentation to council.  I may not have caught all the salient points.  

Sincerely,

Christine

[Geraldine Jordan]

Hi Christine,

Thanks for keeping us updated with your summary from the meeting yesterday.  

Much appreciated!

Geraldine Jordan

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