Council asks for sidewalks and bike lanes over 401

By Vanessa Stark

401 interchange bridge. Image provided by Vanessa Stark

BELLEVILLE – Bike lanes and sidewalks should be included in plans for the reconstruction of the bypass bridges over Highway 401 in the Belleville area.

That was what city council decided it would ask the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario for when it met Monday to discuss what the city wants to see when new interchanges are built in Belleville.

The Belleville area has four interchanges that bridge Highway 401. They are approaching the anticipated end of their lifespan.

The ministry is looking for the municipality and public to give their opinions on what they would like to see for the bridges in the area to help improve the traffic and growth of the city.

Rod Bovay is the director of engineering and development services for the city of Belleville. Here he explains what the city is looking for in rebuilt interchanges.  

“I think they will help to eliminate the barrier that is the 401, both practically and psychologically. Now it presents itself as a barrier, but if the bridges are done right and they accommodate cars and pedestrians and cyclists it becomes less of a barrier,” Bovay said. “And that will have the effect of making the community seems like it’s whole. Instead of dividing it into north and south of the 401.”

The bridges over the 401 were built in the 60s and made to last for at least 75 years. With just over 15 years left for their life expectancy, the Ministry of Transportation is starting to plan for the future.

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The cost of these bridges won’t be known until it’s decided what the reconstruction will include, Glenn Higgins, the project manager for the Ministry of Transportation, said.

“We don’t know what the bridges are going to have to accommodate. We can assume that there will be a six or an eight lane 401 underneath it, well that makes the bridge twice as long as it currently is,” Higgins said. “We don’t know what we need to put overtop of that bridge, whether it is just two lanes, or four lanes, or four lanes and sidewalks, or four lanes and a bus lane. Thats all still to be determined with the municipality and with the public input.”

He also told QNetNews that the structure and safety of the bridge isn’t in danger, even though the MTO has started the process for reconstruction.

“We are extremely conservative organization when it comes to public safety. If there was any danger of these bridges falling down or anything we would shut them down. We are nowhere near that.” Higgins said, “But we do know that they have a finite life in front of them. We don’t cut it close… We start our planning 10 or 20 years in the future.”

After the municipalities and the public have given their feedback on what they would like to see these plans include, the Ministry will start making the designs. Construction is not likely to start for another five years and could last over a decade for all bridges in the area to be complete.