Work finally starting on Fredericton's newest Cross Town Trail section

A long-awaited addition to a Fredericton bike trail is finally underway after years of anticipation in the city renowned for its trail network.

Riders on the Cross Town Trail currently have to use sidewalks through residential neighbourhoods for a few sections. But with a new protected bike lane along parts of Smythe and Argyle streets, riders will soon have a safer option to ride.

Traffic and cyclists will be divided by a concrete barrier on Argyle Street and by a grass boulevard on Smythe Street.

Sean Lee, the city's assistant director for engineering and operations, said Smythe Street is being narrowed by about a metre so a three-metre protected bike lane can be added alongside the existing sidewalk.

"This is significant for us to get this done," Lee said in an interview with Information Morning, "and as we move forward, it will hopefully connect the entire Cross Town Trail, and then we'll have a much better system for recreational active transportation users."

No trees are expected to be cut down for the Argyle section.

Construction has begun on Smythe Street, and city spokesperson Elizabeth Fraser said bike lanes on Smythe and Argyle are both expected to be complete by September.

The area's city councillor Cassandra LeBlanc campaigned on a promise to complete the trail's missing sections, and is happy to get it completed.

"I think that's incredibly exciting because we've managed to complete the trail in an innovative way that is safe," LeBlanc said.

But the trail has not been without controversy, with many neighbours complaining to the city about what they see as an unsafe trail location along their street due to driveways and parked cars. Some residents held a letter-writing campaign, wrote petitions and even went so far as to make official complaints about LeBlanc. 

"There are a lot of people that care about this project, both people that are super excited to see it happening and cannot wait for it to be complete," LeBlanc said. "And there are those that are less happy and would have liked to see different choices made, and I totally appreciate that."

LeBlanc said all residents that reached out received a "lengthy explanation" from city engineers about how data supports the bike lane plan as the safest option.

"I think you're always trying to improve consultation, but look, we held an open house that 70 residents attended. There were several residents from Argyle Street that attended and I did listen to their concerns," she said.

LeBlanc also noted that the trail section on Argyle was changed from two-way traffic, which would have eliminated parking, to one-way traffic that would allow for some parking.

"That is directly because of feedback we received from residents," she said.

"But at the end of the day, if this project didn't go through, this would sit on the side of a desk for another 10 years, another 20 years, and we would be depriving the citizens of Fredericton of active transportation."

City transportation manager Tyson Aubie said retrofitting streets is always difficult, but a physical concrete barrier to separate motorists and cyclists was chosen as the safest option for the Argyle Street section currently being built.

"It gives users a little bit more comfort, it's going to look better, we're going to be planting some trees when it's complete," Aubie said.

The Smythe and Argyle street sections are some of the few parts of the trail not along the former railroad path. That section of railroad path came up for sale in the late 1990s, but the council at the time decided not to purchase it, Aubie said.

"So the ability to put that trail through there doesn't exist anymore."

Aubie said he understands residents' concerns about the trail, but said the city has done as much as it can to accommodate their needs.

"A lot of the work that you see right now is to keep the trail further away from their properties. We can only narrow Smythe Street so much, we still need to maintain minimum lane widths for traffic," he said.

"But we've made every attempt that we possibly can to keep this away from their front porches and steps."