THUNDER BAY – City staff is scheduled to provide council with a progress report on the city's transportation master and active transportation plans on Monday.
Matthew Miedema, Thunder Bay's director of engineering, told Newswatch that the city’s transportation network is in
“pretty good” shape.
Miedema said the Northwest Arterial Road has always been a big transportation issue, but the city has made good progress on building its active transportation network across the municipality.
According to the council report, over the last six years, since the transportation master plan and the active transportation plan were approved by council — both cover a 20-year period — several key initiatives on addressing gaps in the sidewalk and cycling networks, and adding new pedestrian crossings to increase safety, have been achieved.
The city has installed 23 pedestrian crossings since 2019.
“We’ve made good progress on active transportation, so we continue to build a network across the city," Miedema said, pointing to making Red River Road more pedestrian friendly. "We will continue to expand the active transportation core; (it's) kind of what we're continuing to look at in terms of road network improvements.”
Other key initiatives, such as developing an electric vehicle strategy, construction of a new roundabout and the enhancement of transit services, have also been completed.
However, there are some challenges in completing some long-standing projects. Miedema said negotiations with CPKC Rail and cost-related issues have left the Vickers-Carrick Street pedestrian bridge on the back burner while they juggle all the other items in their portfolio.
“We've had a lot of negotiations back and forth to find cost-effective solutions for new infrastructure," he said.
"Anytime we can save the city money in terms of infrastructure expansions, we pursue that, and that's when we kind of actively engage."
"It's a lengthy process, but we're hoping to try to do it as cost-effectively as possible,” Miedema added.
