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Mission council approves $1.5 million for 1st section of 7th Ave Greenway Project

Phase 1 of transporation corridor runs from Grand Street to Fraser River Heritage Park
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Image showing the design features of the 7th Avenue Greenway in front of the Mission Leisure Centre.

Mission council has approved the first phase of the 7th Avenue Greenway Project, which will run from Grand Street to Fraser River Heritage Park.

The vote to move the project forward, which will finalize the design and put it out to tender, passed six-to-one on Dec. 20.

Mayor Paul Horn said he was initially hesitant about supporting a greenway and felt more “homework needed to be done.” He said, for the most part, he no longer feels that way.

“I don’t see this as purely a question of a greenway or even of a multi-use path or a bike lane, but it really is about modernizing our transportation corridor,” Horn said.

“I think it needed to start, and it needs to give us a chance to kind of work as we go through it, and that’s what’s going to happen here.”

The whole greenway project aims to build a 6.5 kilometre transportation corridor connecting the east and west of Mission, improving access to parks, recreational facilities, schools and local businesses.

Phase One will be 1.6 kilometres, and cost $1.5 million from the city’s reserves.

The project aims to make it safer for drivers, walkers, cyclists and other forms of transportation. It will include new crosswalks, rapid flash beacons, curb extensions, pedestrian refuge islands, raised bicycle lanes at crosswalks and bus stops, and street light improvements.

Based on crash statistics released from the developing 2021 Transportation Master Plan, 7th Avenue is one of the city’s most collision streets, with four of the top 15 intersections running along the road.

Coun. Ken Herar called the greenway a “multi-generational project” that will leave behind a legacy.

“I think through time, we will see the benefits of it. You may not see it now, but for people who are against it, I think through time, we’ll see that,” Herar said.

Throughout this past year, city councillors and staff have been conducting rounds of public and stakeholder engagement on potential designs.

The majority of the responses in this engagement (65 per cent) were in favour of the 3-metre bi-directional protected design option for the north side of the greenway.

The design includes a 1.8 metre sidewalk; a new 3 metres bi-directional bike lane, which will be separated from the road by half metre; a new 2.7 metre sidewalk installed in front of commercial stores; new paved parking stalls; and sitting and landscaped areas.

The city has successfully applied to the Provincial Active Transportation Infrastructure Grant Program and will be receiving $500,000 for the project, on the condition the city’s share be approved by the end of the year and construction will begin in two years.

Parking on the north side of 7th Avenue is going to be significantly reduced in the design option, with a loss of approximately 40 per cent of spaces.

The sole vote against approving the design was from Coun. Jag Gill, who said he was concerned over the loss of parking, and the spending of $1.5 million from reserves when there are uncertainties around phase two of the greenway project.

A survey conducted by the city found that parking on the street is utilized only 25 per cent of the time, and additional parking spaces will be created east of Grand Street near the Mission Leisure Centre, according to the staff report.

Although not part of the project’s scope, staff are looking to add full signalization to the 7th Avenue and Murray Street intersection, which would cost an additional $360,000 (based on 2017 prices).

This would avoid further disrupting traffic flows along 7th Avenue during construction of the greenway, which is expected to take two to three months, staff said.

The design and cost estimates for remaining sections of 7th Avenue from Grand Street to Wren Street are planned to be completed in the first quarter of 2022, and not currently included in the capital plan.

Further phases will be reviewed once the transportation master plan is finalized.

Staff continue to look for federal government funding, which has recently announced $400 million available to municipalities for new pathways, bike lanes, trails and other active transportation infrastructure.

More design details are expected by spring.