New physical distancing measures have been put in place in parts of the city, including the temporary removal of one lane of traffic on both Eramosa Road and the Speedvale Avenue bridge and one-way sidewalks in other parts of the city.
City staff developed in-house criteria to prioritize which streets would receive treatments, said Jennifer Juste, transportation planning manager for the City of Guelph.
“We looked at all of the main arterial roads in Guelph where we have those pinch points caused either by retaining walls, guardrails or bridges,” said Juste.
“We had quite a number of locations on that list, so we focussed on the ones that helped serve the essential services.”
The temporary changes came about as a result of a May 11 decision by Guelph City Council to allow for active transportation while maintaining physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One solution appeared Monday at Eramosa Road between the Downtown Trail and Delhi Street, as well as on Speedvale Avenue bridge over the Speed River. In each location, a single lane of traffic was blocked off to allow for bi-directional foot and bicycle traffic, while maintaining physical distancing.
“We prioritized Eramosa because of the link to the hospital from the downtown and because it’s highly used by pedestrians, but it also serves the commercial hub at the corner of Stevenson where there are a number of pharmacies and grocery stores as well,” said Juste.
“Speedvale was selected because we know that is a very popular route for trail users using it for recreational uses,” said Juste. “We knew people wanted to be out and to be physically active for mental health and physical health and didn’t want to put themselves at risk by having to cross a very narrow bridge.”
Juste said the city learned a lot about planning this kind of project from a pilot that also took up a lane of traffic on Woolwich, set up months before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s not as simple as it might appear — that you plunk down some barrels and put up some signs and it’s done — it takes quite a bit of internal coordination with various departments,” said Juste.
Emergency services and public transit had to be consulted before the lanes were put in place.
“There’s a lot of that coordination that needs to happen and that can take a considerable amount of time,” said Juste.
Lots of people use that stretch of Speedvale to take advantage of the trails in the area, said Mike Darmon, vice-president of Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT).
“I bike across that intersection every day and I go across that bridge, and of course I use the Trans-Canada Trail, which is directly connected just on the other side of the bridge, too,” said Darmon.
He welcomes the addition of extra space for cyclists and pedestrians to physically distance s they don’t have to pass close on a narrow stretch of trail.
“You can’t make the bridge wider. Nobody wants to close these things down because they are such a high traffic pedestrian area, so we’re very conscious of that, too,” said Darmon.
On Wednesday, GCAT sent a letter to the city with some concerns that it isn’t immediately apparent that the lanes are available for use by cyclists because of small signage and signs blocking the entrances.
“The entrance is a bit confusing and the signage could maybe be improved,” said Darmon.
Juste said the new lanes are a work in progress and the city will take those concerns, and possible concerns from the public, under advisement.
She said so far there has been no complaints that she knows of about the lanes from members of the public. Juste said they will likely remain in place until Public Health drops the requirement that people maintain physical distancing from one another.
One-way pedestrian sidewalks have also been set up at the following locations: Eramosa Road between Callandar Drive and Orchard Crescent; Paisley Street between Dublin and Glasgow streets; the Edinburgh Road bridge between the Royal Recreational Trail heads; Woodlawn Road on the south side from Fairway Lane to 250 meters west of Fairway Lane; and the Macdonell Street bridge between Arthur Street South/Elizabeth Street, Arthur Street North/Rose Street and Woolwich/Wellington Street.
