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Pedestrian, cyclist path included

A separated pedestrian and cyclist path will be constructed as part of a $500-million project to build a ring road along Red Deer’s east side.

A separated pedestrian and cyclist path will be constructed as part of a $500-million project to build a ring road along Red Deer’s east side.

On Monday, Red Deer city council endorsed the design called Option A2 to build a separate cyclist/pedestrian path on one side of the road, with the path widening to five metres from 3.5 metres over the CN rail bridge and the Red Deer River bridge.

The road, which the city has dubbed the north highway connector, will not be built for many years due to financial constraints.

But council was told it’s important to consider the paths since detailed design of the road is underway.

The road, which will eventually become a six-lane expressway, will be built from the Hwy 2/Hwy 11A interchange to the Hwy 2/McKenzie Road overpass.

City manager Craig Curtis supported this option to have a dedicated cyclist path adjacent to the combined-use path, plus widening for the path along the bridge to make it safer.

City Councillor Paul Harris said he’d like to see these paths on both sides of the road, although it would be costlier.

His concern is that people will attempt to cross the main road to get to the pathway on the other side.

“My big concern is whether those bike paths and walking paths are actually in the right place because we tend to build them right beside the highway,” Harris added.

“There seems to be a disconnect. Even in this design, they could put shrubs and trees and really separate the path and road like they’ve done along Memorial Drive in Calgary.”

Russ Wlad, vice-president for Stantec Consulting Engineers of Red Deer, said the path is slated to happen on one side of the road, but there may be future provisions to allow for the cyclist/pedestrian path to occur on both sides.

“The design for the initial bridge and roadway work is about 50 per cent complete,” he said later.

“We anticipate some grading work will start this spring.”

Construction initially involves the first phase, which includes extending 30th Avenue to the alignment, and the Northland Drive project, which involves extending Hwy 11A across the Red Deer River.

The ring road will join with 20th Avenue when it’s built.

Three bridge structures are also part of the project — two separate bridges over the Red Deer River, a multi-purpose crossing structure and the CN rail overpass. Building those bridges is not part of the city’s current 10-year capital plan.

The full build-out of this road is expected to take about 50 years, Wlad said.

Harris also wondered about the public having some input into the final project design of the bridges.

Mayor Morris Flewwelling said he didn’t think so. He didn’t believe the public in Calgary gave any input into the special designs for the bridge near the Calgary Zoo.

“I’m not comfortable with that,” said Harris.

Council was told that a public art feature could be part of the bridgework.

Councillor Chris Stephan said he figured the bridge over the river should have an interesting feature.

“Anytime we are crossing the river ... we could have something more appealing,” said Stephan.

ltester@www.reddeeradvocate.com