ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Some Shea Heights residents breathed a sigh of relief Monday at the regular St. John’s city council meeting.
A contentious upgrade to Linegar Avenue saw many residents of the area attend the meeting to hear council’s decision.
At issue is roadwork that began last spring and is ongoing – it includes a new storm system and a revised traffic-calming roadway design that includes curb, gutter and sidewalks.
The design made room for 11-foot traffic lanes – 22 feet altogether for both lanes.
“A lot of people up there, they’re afraid,” Coun. Wally Collins said. “It’s really too narrow – they’re not used to it.”
Meetings between city staff, councillors and community members in advance of the Monday meeting resulted in three suggested changes to the design.
First, residents suggested removing a boulevard (curb extension) to widen one section of the road. Second, they suggested the city remove all curb extensions on Linegar, and third, that the city widen the intersection of Linegar Avenue and Warford Road.
The three suggestions altogether would cost an additional $123,000 on top of what’s already been spent on the road upgrades.
Collins moved to go ahead with the first and third suggestions. Removal of all curb extensions was the bulk of the cost – $80,000 – so his suggestion would come with a lesser cost of $43,000.
Motion passed with dissent
The motion was passed, with councillors Deanne Stapleton, Maggie Burton and Ian Froude dissenting. Councillors Debbie Hanlon and Hope Jamieson were absent, so did not vote.
Froude said narrow streets are safer streets because people drive faster when streets are widened – a point that was also brought up in the city engineers’ technical justification for the current road design.
He said other streets in the city are just as narrow, including Waterford Bridge Road and Topsail Road.
City transportation engineers also suggested proceeding with the existing design, and not making the changes suggested by residents.
Froude agreed.
“It’s built correctly,” said Froude. “Now to use taxpayer money to widen it again is not something that I’m willing to support.”
Froude also said Metrobus indicated no concerns with bus travel along Linegar Avenue.
Collins, however, said residents did have concerns with meeting large vehicles on the road.
“When they met a big truck on the road, or Metrobus, they were nervous where the street was so narrow.”
In her dissent, Burton reiterated several points made by engineers in the decision/direction note, including safety.
“Wider lanes may give drivers a feeling of comfort but, as a result, create conditions that are less safe for all road users,” reads the note.
“This is a fundamental trade-off common in the complete streets approach where drivers’ expectations need to be adjusted to better accommodate other modes and improved safety. Prioritizing driver comfort over the safety of all road users is not acceptable engineering practice in this context.
“Removing the boulevard area to allocate that space for drivers has adverse effects. It would allow vehicle travel lane immediately adjacent the sidewalk, removing the protective space between pedestrians and drivers.”
Snow taken into consideration
However, councillors who voted in favour of taking steps to widen the road spoke about the effect of snow.
Coun. Jamie Korab said the 22-foot road can get much narrower in the winter.
Collins said sidewalks in the area also won’t be plowed in the winter, which means people would walk on the already narrow stretch.
As a solution, Burton suggested referring sidewalk snowclearing to staff for the specific section of Linegar Avenue that is narrowed.
Coun. Sandy Hickman said he went up to have a look at the road and, while he’s supportive of the engineers, he called the road “unnecessarily narrow.”
Coun. Dave Lane and Mayor Danny Breen both spoke about the need for a compromise to address area residents’ concerns.
Breen spoke of the importance of listening to the people who live in the area, and said even with the suggested changes the road would still be built to national standards and be safe.
Still, the engineering staff’s decision/direction note states the changes “can in no way be recommended from a transportation engineering perspective.”
The decision/direction note also indicates that removing the boulevard would “reduce the expected safety performance of the street and, as such, may have liability implications.”
After council passed two of the three suggestions, one area resident in the gallery said a relieved “yes” and others clapped.
Collins told reporters he feels “good” about the way the vote went.
“Now the street will be wide enough for two lanes of traffic, and if the public got to go out, because the sidewalks are not cleared, there’ll be room for the public there.”
Collins said he expects the widening work will begin next week and could be completed by this time next year.
Twitter: @juanitamercer_
