Bypass report suggests new bridge, more lanes

More lanes across the north of Charlottetown and possibly a new bridge over the Hillsborough River are among the needs outlined in an engineering report on the Charlottetown Bypass.

'If you look at the amount of traffic going through there it's unbelievable.' Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley

The study done for the province shows some sections of the perimeter highway are nearing capacity, while others could need major upgrades within the next two decades.

The bypass currently runs from Stratford to North River, and for years there has been talk of extending it around Cornwall to Clyde River. Consulting engineer John Robinson focuses on the two-lane bottleneck between St. Peters Road and the Brackley Point Road as one of the biggest current problems.

"It's obviously the weak link in the chain," said Robinson.

"Anywhere you've got less number of lanes you can handle less number of traffic, and it becomes a priority area for improvements."

Among the busiest sections of the bypass is the Hillsborough Bridge, which is almost at capacity now, despite an expansion to four lanes just a decade ago. Some future options include widening the bridge to six lanes or building a second bridge further up the river.

If nothing is done, the study suggests, drivers could expect rush hours to last a lot longer.

The study also suggests overpasses or roundabouts may eventually have to be built at different intersections along the bypass.

Transportation Minister Ron MacKinley said he is ready to devote part of his annual $30-million budget to the bypass.

"You've got to keep it a good priority, because if you look at the amount of traffic going through there it's unbelievable," said MacKinley.

Cornwall a priority

The study does not make specific recommendations about which sections of the bypass should be tackled first, but last week Premier Robert Ghiz hinted his priority is to get money from Ottawa to extend the bypass around Cornwall.

Robinson agrees that is a good priority. He notes the town is currently split in half by the Trans-Canada Highway. The report shows most of the traffic is just passing through of the 18,000 vehicles entering Cornwall daily, about 12,000 are headed somewhere else.

Robinson said redirecting that traffic to a new bypass around Cornwall would make the area safer.

"Sometimes we respond to the fact that if we don't improve the roadway and separate traffic flows in some way because of access, we're going to begin to find ourselves with a collision problem," he said.

"Maybe not always major collisions, maybe it's a lot of property damage only, but it's still an economic cost to society. It's an inconvenience."

Some Cornwall business owners have expressed concerns about losing potential customers if traffic is diverted away from the downtown, but Robinson said all that extra traffic passing through actually discourages people from visiting the community.

By reducing traffic and widening sidewalks Cornwall could become a destination, said Robinson, rather than a just a place people pass through.