CANMORE – Railway Avenue will eventually be reduced to one lane of traffic in each direction as part of a new design plan to ease congestion and improve other modes of transportation such as walking and cycling.
Phase one of the concept design plan includes redesigning the intersection of Railway Avenue and Bow Valley Trail next year to help separate vehicles from pedestrians and cyclists by building islands, medians and separated bike lanes.
The plan, which council approved on Tuesday (July 2), initially envisioned eliminating one lane of traffic onto Railway Avenue to reduce the number of vehicles heading into the town’s centre, however two lanes will remain for now in order to collect more data before implementing phase two and three of the plan.
“Currently, our transportation network has the capacity to move very large volumes of vehicular traffic with the exception being in and around the town centre,” said Claire Ellick, a transportation engineer with the Town.
“Unless we change the way that our transportation system works, this problem will become more and more acute over time.”
The concept plan for the intersection also includes eliminating one lane of traffic in each direction when turning onto Bow Valley Trail, and improving the intersection at Old Canmore Road by creating a dedicated left-hand turning lane onto the road and stopping vehicles from turning left when they exit.
There will also be several areas for buses to pull over and pick up passengers, freeing up the road for vehicles to pass.
“Our planning work envisions that we can increase the capacity of our network and the number of trips that our residents and visitors can safely and comfortably make by providing a range of quality travel options,” said Ellick.
“That requires that we right-size the highways that have been built into the core, get more people into vehicles (carpooling) and create new capacity for people to walk and cycle.”
Ellick said the redesign of Railway Avenue will be done in three phases and includes bikes lanes on both sides of the road, wider sidewalks and eliminating on-street parking. The proposed design will also make use of central boulevards to separate traffic and use protected intersections to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.
“Looking at the capacity of the original four-way cross section we can move up to 30,000 people per day, ninety per cent of those by personal automobile,” said Ellick.
“If within the same space we provide safe and convenient cycling, walking and transit facilities, we are able to increase the capacity to the overall corridor to move up to 50,000 people per day, still moving over 70 per cent of them by private automobile.”
Mayor John Borrowman and several councillors cautiously voiced their support for the plan.
“Even though I’m not absolutely certain how things will play out, the status quo just isn’t an option,” said Borrowman, adding he’d like to see the province add more signage along the Trans-Canada Highway to help direct traffic into town.
Other issues raised during the meeting included concerns about the elimination of on-street parking proposed in stage three of the plan, the impact trees could have on driver’s sightlines and what would happen if a car breaks down or there is an accident in the only available lane of traffic.
The intersection improvements at Railway Avenue and Bow Valley Trail are part of the Town’s integrated traffic plan, which includes redesigning the town’s main arteries, including Palliser Trail, Bow Valley Trail, Benchlands Trail and Railway Avenue.
Construction of the intersection is expected to coincide with plans to redesign Palliser Trail and Benchlands Trail next summer.
Earlier this year, the Town approved a plan to eliminate one lane of traffic in each direction on Palliser Trail to make way for a mixed-used pathway and turning lanes on both sides of the road.
Benchlands Trail and the overpass will also be reconfigured to accommodate a new mixed-used, separated pathway over the highway heading into town by eliminating one lane of traffic.
