Dedicated cycling lanes will be added to the Beckwith Street bridge corridor in Smiths Falls as part of an upcoming bridge rehabilitation project, but members of council spent much of Monday night’s committee of the whole meeting debating whether the design does enough to improve pedestrian safety at one of the town’s busiest intersections.
Paul McMunn, director of public works and utilities, presented a report outlining the proposed lane configuration for Beckwith Street between Chambers Street and the Lombard Street, Brockville Street and Jasper Avenue intersection.
The project includes rehabilitation work on the New Lock Overpass and the Pedestrian Underpass, two of the four bridge structures crossing the Rideau Canal. Once complete, all four Beckwith Street bridge structures will have been rehabilitated.
As part of the work, dedicated 1.5-metre cycling lanes will be added in both directions. McMunn said the new lanes will connect with existing cycling infrastructure installed during previous phases of the Beckwith Street reconstruction project, as well as recently added cycling lanes on Elmsley Street North.
“So we’re picking away at it,” McMunn said. “We’re addressing some of the programs that were identified in the active transportation plan based on an annual basis. We can’t wave our wand and cover everything in one fell swoop.”
The cycling lanes will create a continuous route from Lombard Street to Cornelia Street West via Beckwith Street North and Elmsley Street North.
The broader project is funded through the provincial Connecting Link program, with the province covering 90 per cent of eligible costs. Staff said incorporating the cycling lanes would have only a marginal impact on the town’s share of the project.
In addition to the bridge rehabilitation, the project includes upgrades to traffic signals at the Lombard Street intersection, modifications to several traffic islands within the intersection, pavement resurfacing and minor geometric changes designed to improve traffic flow. McMunn said some islands would be shifted to provide slightly wider lanes, particularly on the Jasper Avenue approach.
The proposed design maintains the channelized right-turn lane from Beckwith Street onto Lombard Street while removing the left-turn lane into Canal Street near the Parks Canada lock station.
McMunn said staff and the project’s engineering consultants recommended retaining the channelized right-turn lane.
Coun. Chris McGuire questioned that recommendation, arguing the town’s accessibility advisory committee had not been formally consulted on the project.
“I think it’s important to note that the accessibility committee wasn’t officially consulted on this project, which I think is incredibly frustrating,” McGuire said.
McGuire said the committee was created in response to accessibility concerns raised during earlier phases of the Beckwith Street reconstruction project and should have been involved in discussions surrounding the latest design.
He also raised concerns about the proposed concrete islands, arguing they increase crossing distances for pedestrians and create challenges for people using mobility devices. McGuire said the committee had recommended council consider removing the free-flowing right-turn lane, reviewing the island configurations and exploring ways to improve access between the waterfront and nearby park areas.
Consultants told council that a high-level traffic analysis concluded retaining the existing channelized lane would result in a safer overall intersection configuration than eliminating it.
However, they acknowledged that the collision data available for the review was limited and did not specifically address pedestrian safety.
McMunn said staff are continuing to explore options to improve safety at the crossing, including the potential installation of a pedestrian crossover, improvements to sightlines and adjustments to the crossing location.
“We haven’t turned a blind eye to how we incorporate safer crossing on that ramp,” he said.
Mayor Shawn Pankow focused on how the intersection would function for residents using mobility aids. Pankow questioned whether the current crossing distances and signal timing give people enough time to cross safely.
Consultants said they were prepared to explore options to improve the existing design, including modifications to pedestrian crossings and the potential addition of pedestrian crossover features, while maintaining the channelized right-turn lane.
Coun. Jay Brennan said he appreciated the concerns raised but noted the project was primarily intended to rehabilitate the bridges.
“I’m just going back to the original project that was a bridge rehabilitation,” Brennan said. “The focal point was the bridge improvement.”
McMunn agreed, adding that the intersection work was included because it falls within the eligible Connecting Link corridor and presented an opportunity to make additional improvements using provincial funding already secured for the larger project.
Council also discussed the parking area adjacent to Memorial Park and the former Parks Canada visitor centre. Coun. Peter McKenna asked whether the existing parking bays would remain as part of the project.
McMunn confirmed no reconstruction work is planned in that area and that the existing parking bays would be maintained.
McKenna suggested maximizing the number of parallel parking spaces within the existing footprint. Staff noted the area had previously been designated for bus parking, but those signs have since been replaced with two-hour parking signs. McMunn said staff could review the pavement markings to determine whether additional parking spaces could be accommodated within the existing parking bay.
Coun. Dawn Quinn said the town must work within the constraints of an existing road network.
“If we could go back 60 or 70 or 100 years ago and redesign all the streets in Smiths Falls, wouldn’t we be totally different?” Quinn said. “But we can’t do that. So we have to work with what we have and make it the best that we can.”
McGuire argued the rehabilitation work represented an opportunity to address longstanding safety concerns at the intersection.
“This is the time to fix it,” he said.
McMunn said the town is completing final quality assurance reviews on the design drawings and tender documents, with the project expected to go to tender shortly.
Construction is anticipated to begin this summer and continue into the fall. Work schedules will be influenced by restrictions associated with the Rideau Canal navigation season, which limit when crews can operate beneath the bridge structures. During those periods, work would shift to the bridge deck and roadway above.
McMunn cautioned that directing staff to undertake a more comprehensive redesign of the Beckwith and Lombard intersection could push tendering into August when “we’re starting to lose daylight,” he said.
The project must be completed by March 2028 to meet provincial funding requirements tied to the Connecting Link program.
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