Major road reduced from four to two lanes in Mississauga to ‘make it safer,’ City says
Published September 15, 2023 at 1:14 pm
The final design has yet to be approved, but Mississauga says it’s forging ahead with a plan to reduce a major street in the city’s east end from four lanes of traffic to two in order to make the corridor safer for all users.
The plan to dramatically alter Bloor Street, from Central Parkway East to Etobicoke Creek, was approved by City of Mississauga council earlier this summer despite opposition from many residents, hundreds of whom signed petitions urging that the busy street not have lanes of traffic taken away.
In an online project status update, Mississauga officials said the massive undertaking is being carried out in an effort to “reduce serious injuries by prioritizing the safety and access of our most vulnerable road users — pedestrians, cyclists and transit users.”
Presented with a half dozen options geared toward making that stretch of road safer, council chose a preliminary design (see below) that:
- reduces the travel lanes for traffic from four to two (one lane in each direction, but with a continuous two-way left turn lane in the centre of the boulevard)
- widens the sidewalks on both sides of the road
- creates in-boulevard cycle tracks, adjacent to the curb lane on both sides of the road
- creates the best opportunity, according to Mississauga officials, to accommodate trees on both sides of the road
City officials said in the project’s status report that the preliminary design “will be confirmed during detailed design (phase) and is subject to refinements.”
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The preliminary design for a revamped Bloor Street, between Central Parkway East and Etobicoke Creek. (Image: City of Mississauga)
Mississauga officials added the huge project was initiated in 2021 and that “a comprehensive and extensive engagement consultation with the public and external agencies” followed.
“Public participation was an important part of the process,” officials said in the status report. “The preferred design alternative was selected based on the technical evaluation, taking into consideration comments received from the community.”
The City says it’s also going to resurface the stretch of road on Bloor Street and add new pedestrian crossings, and the “bundling of these projects into a single construction contract will reduce the overall construction cost of the improvements and the nuisance/fatigue for local residents.”
Map shows the stretch of Bloor Street in Mississauga, from Central Parkway East to Etobicoke Creek, that is being given a significant makeover.
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