Port Moody is trying to make it easier for pedestrians, cyclists, transit users and motorists to get around as city council approved the implementation strategy for the first series of projects proposed under the city’s new master transportation plan.
Among the projects in the works for 2018 are:
• improved safety for pedestrians and cyclists on Murray Street and Gatensbury Road;
• new stairs and access ramp from the south end of the Moody Street overpass to the parking lot at the Moody Centre SkyTrain station;
• refurbished shelters at 12 city-owned bus stops;
• improvements to the intersection of Clarke Road and Seaview Drive;
• and the installation of permanent curb bulges at crosswalks in Newport Village.
Some other projects included in the plan’s first phase, such as the construction of a multi-use pathway on the Barnet Highway overpass and a new signal that gives priority to buses turning at St. Johns and Hugh streets, are already underway or have been completed.
Design and construction costs for the projects, and others that comprise the 20-year plan, will be funded by a possible 1% tax levy beginning in 2018 as well as grants from other levels of government and contributions from developers. In total, capital improvements proposed over the course of the plan will cost about $31.7 million.
In the staff report presented to council, it was suggested money could be saved by aligning related projects together or coordinating them with development projects.
The second phase of projects through 2019 includes:
• the redesign of the west end of St. Johns Street, from Moody Street to Albert, to include a new cycling and pedestrian pathway;
• the design of a multi-use pathway on Clarke Road from Seaview Drive to St. Johns Street;
• the completion of the off-street bike path along Murray Street from the bridge to Electronic Avenue as well as improvements to the intersection of Murray and Moody Streets, including a new traffic signal and pedestrian crossing at the base of the ramp from the overpass;
• traffic safety improvement on Gatensbury Road;
• and improvements to bus stops, sidewalks and crosswalks.
Also part of the plan is a pitch to TransLink to remove HOV lanes on St. Johns and Clarke streets but, if approved, that likely wouldn’t happen until the third phase of the plan, in 2019 or 2020.
Big-ticket items that are part of the long-range plan include a new bike and pedestrian overpass connecting Moody Centre and Rocky Point Park; a possible vehicle overpass to connect Suter Brook and Klahanie if land west of Capilano Road and east of Nootka Way is developed; and the widening of Clarke Road to four lanes, along with several initiatives to build off-street bike paths and separated lanes on major thoroughfares like St. Johns, Murray, Clarke and Ioco.
