If BRT takes traffic lanes from Richmond Street: 'Where will these cars go?'

Ward 6 Coun. Phil Squire is raising questions about how a plan to devote two of Richmond's four traffic lanes to buses will affect rush-hour traffic.

Coun. Squire worries about congestion, cut-through traffic in Old North ahead of public meeting

Andrew Lupton CBC News Posted: Oct 23, 2017 8:18 AM EDT | Last Updated: October 23, 2017

London's Bus Rapid Transit Plan will make two of Richmond Street's four traffic lanes bus-only. Coun. Phil Squire says that would slow traffic on a street that is often already choked with cars during rush hour. The city may also add two new traffic lanes, but that would mean expensive property expropriations. (Andrew Lupton/CBC)

2 options for Richmond

There are essentially two options for Richmond north of Oxford:

Take two lanes away:BecauseBRTbuses will run in dedicated lanes (no other traffic allowed) it will essentially eliminate two traffic lanes. As areas north of London continue to grow, Richmond has become a major thoroughfareinto downtown,particulalryduring rush hour.

Add two lanes:Another option on the table is widening Richmond to add two trafficlanes to compensate for the two dedicated for BRTvehicles. This will becontentious, and likely require some expensive expropriations of properties along Richmond.

Note: For each of these options, it's possible the BRTbuses will run along the centre (median) lanes or outside (curb) lanes.

"Where will all those cars go?"

That's the questionCoun. Phil Squire will ask tonight at a public meetingto discuss how London's Bus Rapid TransitPlan (BRT) will affect Richmond Street north of Oxford.

At issue will be plansalready approved by council earlier this yearto route the buses along two of Richmond's four busy traffic lanes. Because BRTlanes will be for buses only, Richmond will effectively drop from four traffic lanes to two.

Another option is to widen Richmond and add two lanes, but that will be more expensive and controversial.

Squire who lives in Old North and represents the area as the Ward 6 councillorhas experienced the stop-and-go traffic along Richmond and worries what will happen if two traffic lanes are lost.

"There's actually not going to be an improvement in traffic flow, traffic flow is going to get worse," he said.

Although council has approved the BRT routes, the more detailed aspects of the$500 million plan, such as changes to existing traffic lanes, have yet to be decided.

For each of these options, engineers are looking at whether buses will run in centre (median) lanes or along curb lanes.

Cut-through traffic

Squire worries that if Richmond slows too much, drivers will cut thorughadjacent north-south streets such as St. George, Wellington and Waterloo.

The cut-through traffic isalready an issue in Old North. For example, drivers travelling south on Richmond already use St. Georege and Talbot streets to jog over to the Talbot/Oxford intersection.

"You're going to end up with a lot more cars going through the Old North neighbourhood," he said.

What transit officalsare saying

Rapid transit project directorJennieRamsaysaid engineers will put forward a recommended option for Richmond Street in the spring.

In the meantime, engineers plan to create adetailed traffic model that outlines the impacts off each option for Richmond.

"What we're goingto bring to the public is a visual representation," said Ramsay. "They don't need to read a study, we'll actually have videos that will show the potential impacts and how those cars will move."

Public meeting

To address some of the concerns, a public meeting is planned for tonight (Monday, Oct. 23)at the Kings University College Vitali lounge.

The two-hour meeting begins at 7 p.m.

Ramsay is scheduled to attend and members of the public will be free to ask questions.

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