Province looking at widening Hillsborough Bridge

The province is looking at widening the Hillsborough Bridge, which links Stratford and Charlottetown.

Widening it is something the ever-growing town of Stratford wants.

In 1997, the Hillsborough Bridge was expanded from two lanes to four. The company that designed the expansion is now looking at whether the bridge’s substructure can support more lanes.

The reason bridge widening is being looked at is because of concerns about capacity and active transportation.

“We're doing some studies on the actual bridge structure to see if there is capacity to widen out to include some individual cycling lanes, but that study is ongoing, will be completed this fall, and then we can review it and have some further discussions with the Town of Stratford,” said Stephen Yeo, the chief engineer for the P.E.I. Department of Transportation.

Even if it's not possible to add lanes, the town has some ideas for easing traffic congestion in the mornings and evenings, including designating lanes for incoming traffic in the mornings and switching them for outgoing traffic in the evenings.

Yeo has some concerns about that idea.

“How do you notify or educate the travelling public that they're on the right lane and the right configuration?” he said. “So, you don’t want it to be confusing to the travelling public and that would be the concern.”

The province won’t put a timeline or a price tag on construction if the study says it’s possible to widen the existing bridge.