Cross Town Trail Project

Hi there! We are currently working on final designs for this project and are considering the feedback we've received from the community in those plans. The current conceptual plans are visible on this page.

In response to your question with respect to cyclists, the standard sidewalk is 1.5m wide and is meant to accommodate safe and comfortable use for 2 pedestrians crossing paths. It is not wide enough to safely accommodate a bicycle and a pedestrian or 2 bicycles. National standards do not recommend mixed-use sidewalks when the minimum operating widths are not available. This is why it is technically prohibited by law to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk.

From the Provincial Motor Vehicle Act:

““sidewalk” means that portion of a highway or street between the curb lines, or the lateral lines of a roadway, and the adjacent property lines set apart for the use of pedestrians, and includes any part of a highway set apart or marked as being for the exclusive use of pedestrians; “

Although the intention is mentioned in the provincial motor vehicle act, the City clarifies that it is prohibited:

From our T-4 By-Law:

“16. BICYCLES AND MOTORCYCLES

No person shall ride or drive a bicycle or motorcycle upon any sidewalk except for the purpose of crossing such footpath or sidewalk.”

Hi Andrew! Thanks for your question. Right now, the project is still in the design phases so there is no new information to share. We are happy to provide some clarity on what this project would look and feel like though. 

The first 2 projects in the following link are very similar to what we are trying to achieve with the Cross Town Trail project. Both were voted “Americas Best New Bikeways of 2020” by people for bikes. You can see them here: https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/americas-best-new-bikeways-2020 

The Algiers Protected Bike Lane Network project was completed on residential and mixed use neighborhoods similar to Argyle Street. Although these projects are longer than the one on Argyle Street, there is no correlation to length of a facility and a reduction of benefit of safety. This is a type of facility, that like other comparable cities, Fredericton intends to expand on. 

The segment of Argyle Street will have a dedicated and protected active transportation lane that separates vehicles from cyclists. This type of facility is proven to be safer than mixed use sidewalks or shared streets. Sidewalks are currently legislated in most jurisdictions for the exclusive use of pedestrians. The reason for that is that is that most sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate a pedestrian and cyclist safely. 

Driveways are a common occurrence crossing trails, sidewalks and bike lanes in the city. It is something that we have to work with in designs. The accommodation of parking and clear sight lines for driveways will be an important part of the design on this facility.

We look forward to sharing more details with you in the future.

Hi Andrew! Good catch on that typo! We've made the corrections. 

Thanks again :-)

Hi Pascal! We're happy to hear you are excited for this project! At this time the style of each individual crossings have not been designed yet. Each crossing will be looked at individually to determine what improvements can be made om order to make them safer and more user friendly. 

Thank you for your feedback. It's important for us to know what people think of the conceptual trail design and also,  what specific areas they can see room for improvement on.  

Hi Peter! Thank you for the question! We're also excited for this project! Although detailed design has not been completed, we do anticipate that this crossing will see some type of traffic calming. The measures will likely be used to both slow vehicles down, and alert drivers that they are approaching an area where special attention should be paid. 

Traffic calming can take many forms - from roundabouts to speed cushions. In this case, we would most likely be using road narrowing techniques such as curb extensions. An example of this would be at the corner of Saint John Street and King Street. The objective of this kind of traffic calming is to shorten crossing distance, make pedestrians more visible, and give drivers the impression that they need to slow down because they are approaching a narrow section of road. 

Thanks again for your feedback! We look forward to sharing more details as  they become available.

You can submit your feedback here or email our Engineering Department directly at traffic@fredericton.ca. We hope this helps. 

Thank you for your questions. Studies are normally performed when traffic volumes are near capacity or if the work being done is different from the existing body of knowledge and research. In this case, Argyle street is a quiet residential street with around 600 vehicles per day. The minimal anticipated increase in pedestrian, cyclist, vehicular and other traffic is not expected to exceed the amount of traffic that Argyle Street could theoretically handle, which is 10,000 vehicles per day. The concept of protected on-street bike lanes are well-documented upgrades and ones commonly found in urban environments. In this case, a study would not provide new information that is not covered in design guides and best practices.

For this proposed / conceptual segment not that much will actually change from a pedestrian and cyclist safety perspective. The sidewalk will remain, the boulevard will remain, the only difference from a cyclist safety perspective, is a formalized protected bike lane will be added. (You can find a similar example in Atlantic Canada by googling Hollis Street in Halifax.) Overall, this type of protected bike lane has safety benefits for cyclists as it separates them from parallel traffic and prevents vehicles from parking in the bike lane.

The best way to explain the “why this route?” part might be to describe the basic rational of how and why it was chosen. This route along Smythe to Argyle was actually decided in the City’s 2007 Municipal Plan. The trail currently already exists between Victoria and Argyle. It was constructed using wider than normal concrete sidewalk that was dyed a darker colour to distinguish it. That being said, not very many people realize this so the plan is to replace the concrete with the new standard of a 3.5m asphalt trail.

Rerouting the trail to go along what was the original railroad corridor would be very difficult. The City does not own the property in question and therefore, has no rights to build a trail on that land. The City does, however, own the land on Smythe and Argyle and building a trail along that stretches means we could not need to acquire private property or make significant changes to what residents would consider their yards and property. The longer answer is if the City did build the trail along the original railroad corridor, we would need to expropriate a considerable amount of land in order to construct a safe and adequate trail. Doing so would result in the need to eliminate the backyards, driveways and parking spaces of several residences, remove numerous trees, fences, and utility poles.

The choice between the existing route and switching to Victoria and Northumberland was because there is room to do the work along Smythe with rebuilding it to a full size trail. This route crosses the least number of driveways. It is preferable to put protected bike lanes along the route that has the least density to minimize conflict points as much as practical.

What has been decided on by Council so far is the route itself. This is the path the trail will take. The renderings you have seen show the conceptual plans for the decided upon route. The detailed design phase is next and we welcome input from the residents who live here. We can design to accommodate a lot of things but in this case, we are working within the existing street scape and do not plan on removing trees to make more space. Below is a list of things we would love to hear from residents about. These details are important for the people who live there and can be accommodated in the final design. This will all be designed by subject matter experts using the applicable standards from The Transportation Association of Canada.

What would you prefer?

• A one-way street with parking on one side?
• If a one-way street were chosen would you prefer east-to-west or west-to-east?
• A two-way street with no parking?

We have heard from some residents on this block of Argyle who have expressed excitement for this project and some who have also shared their concerns. The completion of the Cross Town Trail has been called for by residents for years, and with Council’s approval we have a path forward to build a safe and complete connection across the city. We had a great turnout at the open house and got valuable input from residents on the 3 options listed above. We hope you and your neighbors give us your feedback and we will certainly take this feedback into consideration in the final design.

Thank you for your questions and please do not hesitate to share with your neighbours and reach out should you require any additional information.

Thank you for your question! Council has approved the conceptual plans of the route, however, the exact details of each connection segment have not been finalized. Engineering staff will now begin a more formalized design process. We all want the Cross-Town Trail to be a safe and practical alternative for getting around the downtown. That’s why the concerns we’ve heard – including how you currently use the street - will be folded into the formalized design process and implementation of this much-needed connection.