Kingsway Avenue could see substantial roadway reconfiguration over the next five years, according to a new Transportation Masterplan being considered by the city.--News File Photo
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Changes to narrow lanes and add trailway on Division Avenue last year may soon be coming to two other main city routes, according to a new version of the city’s Transportation Masterplan.
Open houses this week unveiled proposed changes of the document to the general public – it envisions upgrades and sets policy direction on a 50-year outlook.
But it also includes more detailed description of two projects already included in the new city budget – reworking Kingsway Avenue and Third Street NW in Riverside to include new multi-use trails on the roads that are relatively built up to roadway.
Therefore, changes could remove on-street parking lanes, reducing directional lane width in favour of dedicated turning lanes and adding trail to join portions of the “active transportation” network.
The update of the plan, last visited in 2012, includes cycling and other modes of transportation not considered in previous revisions.
“We prioritized (active transportation) over the next 10 years, and we’ll prioritize that over the next 10 years,” said Sandeep Pareek, manager of engineering with the city’s municipal work’s department.
Open houses at the Esplanade and Medicine Hat College this week were held for the public, though many projects could be decades away and dependent on population growth or highway changes from Alberta Transportation.
This year however, the department is working on a concept design and then a planned public consultation process ahead of work in Riverside next year.
The 2025-2026 city budget adopted in December includes $1.5 million in funds for planning the upgrades on Third Street in 2026, while the masterplan states the total cost could be $7.5 million to complete.
There is no estimate for the work on Kingsway, which could see it reduced to three lanes, including one in each direction and a centre lane for alternating left turns.
“Kingsway is on our radar for rehab at some point, maybe in the next budget cycle, basically just because of the pavement condition,” said Pareek. “At the same time we see what other upgrades – like an active transportation network – could be included.”
Work on Division Avenue on the South Hill this past summer – eliminating two largely unused parking lanes to accommodate a new trail, but narrowing the roadway curb to curb – was panned by several members of the public during and after construction.
Administrators and some council members defended the project in the fall stating it would calm traffic in a large residential neighbourhood, and cycling would increase when a south trail portion was completed to College Avenue and other legs of the Heritage Trail Network.
The proposed Transportation Masterplan also prioritizes cycling corridors on roads to points on the trail system.
A separate transit masterplan and downtown parking study are also planned, along with active transportation reviews.
Sidewalk development will focus on filing gaps in the existing network, and new sidewalks would be installed at 1.5 metres wide. That is about a foot wider than most existing sidewalks to meet current standards and better accommodate strollers, walkers and wheelchairs.
Major road projects will be considered in tandem with a goods movement evaluation and how population growth affects the flow of traffic.
“Projects are based on growth projections, which the city has modelled traffic patterns,” said Pareek. “There are areas where we may need upgrades, and that’s been itemized.”
Other long-term road expansions would see current two-lane roads expanded to four.
Those include portions of S. Boundary Road, a remaining three-lane portion of Parkview Drive and 13th Avenue in South Ridge, as well as the continuation of Box Springs Road up to and including Broadway Avenue (heading to Redcliff).
A tentative schedule states initial work to expand Rotary Centennial Drive could begin in 2028.
Other items are noted in the 10-year-plus time horizon, including an access road from Powerhouse Road to businesses located south of the Trans-Canada Highway along a complex stretch of intersections near the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
Planners say they are still depending on Alberta Transportation to finalize highway changes before moving ahead.
New roadways on the long-term horizon include the long-proposed South West Connector route to cross the Seven Persons Creek Coulee to join S. Boundary Road to Highway 3.
“Burnside Drive” would also flow through the decades-old proposed residential community to the Trans-Canada Highway at Third Street and near Redcliff limits.
A northward extension on Division Avenue to provide plant site and trucking routes on Box Springs Road, and a new alignment of Brier Park Road, would also provide a more direct route to Rotary Centennial Drive.
