The footbride on Catherine Street does not currently allow cyclists to ride over it and would have needed to be closed if it wasn’t replaced soon. Image by Evan McClelland
By Evan McClelland [1]
BELLEVILLE – The city plans to meet with the college Jan. 26 to discuss what Loyalist plans to do about the bike lane that will connect Belleville to the college campus, according to Coun. Egerton Boyce.
City council approved the replacement of the Catherine Street footbridge in its 2018 capital budget, a key component of the bike lane. Right now, cyclists can’t ride over it.
“What we’re looking at eventually is going, collecting, on to the trail and then going over the Catherine Street bridge. Going up Catherine Street to Yeoman Street and then connecting back onto Bridge Street West, and going out towards Loyalist,” said Boyce.
Bike lane route Map by Demii Niles
The city cannot build on college property, which means that Loyalist will have to finish the last part of the bike lane from Avonlough Street to campus.
“Now that we know how we’re getting there, we want Loyalist to let us know how they are going to get to that particular spot.”
QNet News spoke with Mark Kirkpatrick, Loyalist College’s director of facilities and information technology services.
“We’re in consultation to make sure we understand all the different obstacles and folks we that we need to talk to. And things that need to make sure get addressed before we start into a full design stage,” Mark Kirkpatrick said when asked what stage the college was at for the bike lane.
“There’s a lot of things you got to do when you’re building a bridge,” he said.
Boyce recognized that this is a large commitment for the college to make
“For the section from Coleman Street all the way to the Loyalist boundary, we’ve allocated $2.5 million. And that’s a lot of money when education’s being squeezed left right and centre in terms of services,” Boyce said.
There has been talk of having this bike lane go out to the college for years, but the process has been speeding up lately.
“We’ve more recently been talking to them (the city) because they more recently have made more commitments about actually making the final mile to the college. So I think the conversation has picked up since then,” Kirkpatrick said.
There is also the issue of safety. As of right now, it can be hazardous to bike out to the college. To get to the college from the city, a cyclist must either take Moira street, or use Old Highway 2. Moira does have a gravel shoulder, but that is not usable for all types of bikes. Furthermore, some parts of the gravel are loose which can cause a loss of traction. Both of them are busy roads that are best avoided.
“It creates an opportunity for our students and our staff, I think, as a safer alternative to get to the college,” Kirkpatrick said.
Boyce said he hopes the city will have finished its part in 2018.
Neither Boyce nor Kirkpatrick could say when the college’s portion would be done.
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With files by Leah Den Hartogh, QNet News