Fitzroy Bike Lane Project
Background Information
Fitzroy Street has long been recognized as a suitable street for creating a cycling connector from East to West across Charlottetown’s downtown which would create a connection between the Confederation Trail and Victoria Park.
In 2012, the City of Charlottetown, the Town of Stratford, the Town of Cornwall and the PEI Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal released the Regional Active Transportation Plan for the Greater Charlottetown Area. The Plan recommended a number of changes to improve active transportation in the City and in the surrounding communities. Some of these recommendations have been already implemented or have been initiated – marking paved shoulders that would make suitable bike lanes; improving signage; creating active transportation maps; snow clearing priority sidewalks, trails and cycling routes in winter; delivering education and public awareness campaigns on active transportation, and installing bike repair “fix-it” stations.
Some recommendations of the report are larger scale projects that have been initiated but not yet fully completed, such as – a full active transportation connection between Cornwall and Charlottetown; an active transportation connection across the Hillsborough Bridge between Stratford and Charlottetown; and a downtown connector between the Confederation Trail and Victoria Park.
In September 2018 CBCL Limited used automated video traffic count units to monitor pedestrian and cyclist usage of Charlottetown's Active Transportation Networks. The goal of this preliminary study was to assess and improve the City's existing Active Transportation infrastructure in an efficient and feasible manner. This study identified the South lane of Fitzroy street as the best option for a designated cycling lane as it has sufficient space, is a very direct route and is a lower traffic street in the downtown. It has the added benefit of already being established as a cycling route with the painting of the sharrows for the past number of years.
Community Consultation Overview
The following opportunities for public consultation and feedback on the proposed Fitzroy Bike Lane Project were given:
- Community drop-in session on January 10 2019
- Follow-up community meeting on February 26 2019
- Stakeholder and resident meetings
- Online social media comments (via Facebook)
- Online feedback form and email submissions
- Long format written submissions to City staff
Stakeholder meetings were held in January and February with representatives from 11 organizations and groups of individuals, including businesses, churches, residents, and City staff across multiple departments.
The stakeholder meetings were held with:
- Charlottetown Police Services
- Charlottetown Fire Department
- Charlottetown Parks and Recreation
- Charlottetown Parkland Conservation (street trees)
- Charlottetown Planning and Heritage
- Charlottetown Asset Management and Infrastructure
- ADL
- Kirk of St. James
- Downtown Charlottetown Inc.
- Downtown Residents Association
- Fitzroy Street resident
View the complete detailed report prepared by Upland Consulting about what was heard at the community consultation and through other feedback avenues here: What We Heard Report
Review the complete study & Answers to Frequently Asked Questions