Whistle Bend will need expensive road changes
The city could end up spending anywhere between $20 million and $30 million on fixing up and building roads to accommodate the upcoming Whistle Bend subdivision.
The money would be spent on everything from making Mountainview Drive a four-lane road to building an access road between the Porter Creek neighbourhood and Range Road.
On Friday, officials with the city and consultant AECOM unveiled the city’s most recent transportation study which looked at how the city’s next major area for development on the Porter Creek lower bench would impact traffic throughout the city and what would be needed to handle the new volumes.
“It really impacts the entire city,” AECOM’s Bill Jenkins said, citing Mountainview Drive, Range Road and the Alaska Highway among the roads that will see the most impact.
Using current information and the number of projected residences for Whistle Bend, AECOM created traffic simulations for the neighbourhood, looking at how traffic would be moving when Whistle Bend starts up, then when it is halfway done, and finally when it is fully developed.
It also looked at the different possibilities for full population of the neighbourhood at 10,000, 7,500 and 5,000 people.
It was found that as the main corridor between Whistle Bend and the downtown core, Mountainview would see enough traffic to justify its being widened to accommodate four lanes, with more traffic signals at various intersections on the road.
“There is a new access proposed,” Jenkins told reporters, stressing the proposed access, about 150 to 200 metres from Tamarack Drive, would not impact McIntyre Creek.
The access would be built in a way that it could connect to another proposal that would see an access built between Mountainview Drive and the Alaska Highway from Pine Street to Kopper King.
As Jenkins pointed out, the growth of Whistle Bend is not going to happen overnight - it’s proposed to be done in nine phases - and, like the development improvements to roads leading to the neighbourhood, would be spread over time.
Even with lower population sizes than the 10,000 initially proposed for a full build-out of the area, AECOM’s Leah Libsekal said the study found the city’s major roads would suffer significantly, with travel times for residents using them increasing.
“People would have to sit and wait at intersections,” she said.
Much of the focus on Whistle Bend has been on sustainability, with the city moving toward a neighbourhood that has a higher density, is pedestrian-friendly and encourages transit use.
The study proposed the plans anticipating a more efficient transit system with more users, Jenkins said.
As the city moves ahead with the first two phases of zoning on the subdivision - up for first reading at tonight’s council meeting - officials will be reviewing the report and its recommendations, city manager Dennis Shewfelt said.
It’s likely any recommendations from the study would come forward as the development continues, depending on the needs at the time.
