For the third year in a row, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has received objections from community groups regarding the Second Avenue roads project.
In an email, Lindsay Davidson of the MOECC said seven groups filed requests to have the project subject to a far more intensive environmental review. The requests came after the city filed what's called a notice of completion on April 7, which is the document that includes all the details of the projects and all the provincially mandated studies. Groups have a month to file comments.
“We take public input seriously,” Davidson wrote. “Information was requested from the proponent regarding concerns raised in the requests. A decision will be made following completion of the review.”
Davidson didn't say how long the process would take. But the city can't proceed until it received approval from the province.
Objections in the last two years have stopped the project. The province has asked the city to do such things as file documents showing there's no archaeological treasures buried in the area, and to consult with First Nations.
Budgeted last year at $6.6 million, costs for the project have increased by about $800,000, Tony Cecutti, the city's GM of Infrastructure, said in late March.
After handling the notices of completion themselves in 2014 and 2015, the city hired a consultant to do the work this time around, at a cost of $50,000.
“Assuming we get through the 30 days, and the community is satisfied that we've addressed the concerns that have been raised, we'll be in a position to tender the construction of that project," Cecutti said in March.
Details of the project have been posted to the city's website. It will widen Second Avenue to five lanes from Donna Drive to Scarlett Road, and three lanes from Scarlett Road to Kenwood Street.
City staff have said the five lanes are needed because of heavy traffic counts along that stretch of Second — 15,000 vehicles a day — as well as the added traffic demands of future residential construction planned in Minnow Lake.
The project will combine the entrance to the Civic Memorial Cemetery and the Minnow Lake Dog Park, and align the new entrance across from Scarlett, where a traffic light will be installed.
But John Lindsay, the most vocal opponent of the project, says five lanes is too much for the area and wants the city to include only three lanes. And he wants the city to consider replacing signal lights with a roundabout.
In a letter, Lindsay said the roundabout “would eliminate the need for substantial road widening and a large signaled intersection, thereby answering a number of the environmental concerns related to water, air, noise, safety and social issues.”
A staff report on the project said the road was too narrow to include a roundabout. They would have to take land from the cemetery and the nearby strip mall, which would not only drive up costs, but make it less safe for cyclists, which will have raised bike lanes that connect from Bancroft to the Rio Can Centre.
“Although there are some benefits to a roundabout compared to a signalized intersection, they do not outweigh the increased construction costs, the impact to adjacent property owners (Cemetery and commercial mall) and the decreased safety for cyclists,” the report said.
But Lindsay said the city should hire someone to study whether a roundabout would work.
“In this regard, we readily acknowledge we are not traffic engineers, however, we do have the power of ordinary citizen observation ...” he said.
To that end, he included a link of a video of Second Avenue during rush hour. You can watch it here:
“We let you judge for yourself as to the volume of traffic and access to the roadway.”
