Lapierre to introduce motion on rehabbing MR 80
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Like a child who outgrows a favourite pair of shoes, the Valley has perhaps grown too big for Municipal Road 80, its main artery.
Ward 6 Coun. Rene Lapierre will introduce a motion at Tuesday’s council meeting asking staff to formulate a plan to address traffic along Municipal Road 80.
“Be it resolved that the City of Greater Sudbury directs staff to conduct a review of the MR 80 corridor from Desmarais Road to Notre Dame Avenue, and the Notre Dame Avenue corridor from MR 80 to Côté Boulevard to determine the form of traffic control that would be appropriate at each intersection,” the motion reads.
As Lapierre tells The Star, the motion was born of resident requests.
“Some have requested a crosswalk near Fergus Avenue, as well as Michelle Drive. Others have shared their concerns with the confusion accessing the Tim Hortons/McDonalds area,” he notes. “Instead of fixing one small piece, let’s look at the whole thing and see what recommendations can be made overall to improve and enhance the safety for cyclists, pedestrians, as well as vehicular traffic.”
As part of his motion, Lapierre is seeking a safety review of “the intersections of Notre Dame Avenue at MR 80 and Notre Dame Avenue at Côté Boulevard,” which would be integrated into road work. Notre Dame Avenue from Dominion Drive to Oscar Street has been approved for rehabilitation next year. The city is currently in the design phase. Lapierre wants a report presented to the operations committee by the second quarter of 2020.
While the roadways may have been sufficient when Hanmer was first envisioned, Lapierre says “the Valley East area has grown significantly over the years, and as such, traffic flows and volumes have increased proportionately.”
Currently, MR 80 near Desmarais Road sees an average of 16,000 vehicles daily, while the stretch near Notre Dame Avenue sees about 12,000 vehicles.
Residents are concerned about accessing or crossing MR 80 due to traffic, and several collisions have occurred at the intersection of Municipal Road 80 and Notre Dame Avenue in Hanmer, Lapierre says.
“Many subdivisions on the north side of MR 80 do not have a safe way to cross all five lanes of MR 80, to get to the hub and centre attractions, which are around Elmview toward the Howard Armstrong Centre,” he says. “We have schools on the north side of MR 80 that children cannot easily cross as pedestrians or cyclists. Some of the other concerns noted by residents include the multiple access entrances to the mall and Tim Hortons, as they do not line up with the north side of Philip and during peak traffic times turning in and out is a difficult task. The other (concern) is that traffic flows have increased since the design of the intersection of MR 80 and Notre Dame, therefore the odd stop-and-go in isolated directions is not the standard approach to that type of intersection.”
The ideal solution, in his opinion, would be to build crosswalks connecting Fergus Avenue and Michelle Drive to the south side of MR 80 “and to enhance safety for right- and left-hand entrances and exits to the mall and Tim Hortons area of MR 80. The last would be to improve traffic flows to an updated modern method that would enhance safety for pedestrians, as well as keep a nice steady flow of traffic.”
Lapierre hopes his motion makes the Valley safer and easier to navigate.
“I hope staff will make suggestions to help improve connectivity between subdivisions, enhance safety for pedestrians, as well as cyclists and all at the same time modernize the flow of traffic for what it is today and possibly the future as the Valley grows,” he says.
Twitter: @marykkeown
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