The City of Lethbridge’s Transportation Master Plan moved further down the road on Thursday, with a draft executive summary presentation to the civic works standing policy committee.
It’s a long-term plan looking at the current and future needs of Lethbridge, exploring projects like arterial road upgrades and intersection improvements.
“We need to make sure we have these 10-year-long plans, 20-year-long plans that we can pass on to future councils,” said Coun. Belinda Crowson, who also chairs the committee.
The plan also touches on a third bridge in Lethbridge.
According to the travel demand model, an additional river crossing won’t be needed until sometime after 2039.
“That’s when we’ll end up needing that third bridge,” said Adam St. Amant, a city transportation engineer. “Based on those population and employment numbers, seeing how many people are travelling and where they’ll likely be travelling, we’ve come up with (traffic) volumes crossing the river and when Whoop-Up Drive will likely be experiencing some pretty high stress.”
It also suggest connecting Scenic Drive S. to University Drive W. using the Chinook Trail crossing alignment is still the preferred spot for the bridge, because of cost and traffic volumes.
“It’s fairly consistent with past analysis and not much surprise to us,” St. Amant said.
Many accessibility and active transport initiatives have a high-priority designation in the plan.
It recommends adding multiple bike and pedestrian pathways to current and future neighbourhoods.
Crowson said it’s important to keep up with changing transportation preferences.
“The technology is changing and there’s been a lot of engagement to make sure that we’re reflecting what people want, but we’re doing it in a responsible manner that actually shows how people are getting around Lethbridge,” Crowson said.
“We’re still anticipating 80 per cent of trips made in the city will be by motor vehicle, but we’re hoping to get the active transportation and transit numbers up a little bit higher, compared to the 10 per cent it is now,” St. Amant said.
The Transportation Master Plan is still in its early stages and another update is expected to come before committee in the fall.