Wellington County is planning to widen its roads.
County council gave its approval to that proposal after a year-long study. The standard asphalt width is currently 7.6 metres (with 3.5 metre wide travel lanes).
The study was to determine an optimum width for all users, including passenger vehicles, trucks, farm equipment, horse and buggy, bicycles, and pedestrians. The current width was reviewed based on cost to resurface, maintenance control, safety, speed of traffic, land use along road and annual average daily traffic (AADT).
County engineer Gord Ough said in a report, “With current usage of county roads increasing, the roads department wants to ensure that it is proactive in maintaining a safe right of way for all to use … Also, with a limited budget, increases in prices of asphalt and liquid asphalt cement, and increases in cost for construction operations the roads department wants to ensure county roads are maintained at a level of service that is expected … by the ratepayers.
The average annual daily traffic was determined for all roads, and are an average for the full length of that road.
The busiest road is County Road 46, with an annual daily average of 17,812 vehicles. Second is County Road 33, with 11,695, and County Road 124 with an average of 10,758.
There are three roads in triple digits. They are County Road 2, with 900 vehicles, County Road 3, with 805, and County Road 49, with 157.
Ough reported two widths are appropriate – eight and nine metres. Nine would be applied to all roads with an average annual daily traffic count of 5,000, the majority of roads with an average greater than 4,000, and some with an average greater than 3,000. All others would be resurfaced with a width of eight metres. The two widths will provide either half a metre or one metre of partially paved shoulder outside of the white line on the road.
Ough’s report stated the county has already seen benefits of nine metre wide asphalt on County Road 32 between Speedvale Avenue and County Road 124. Additional paving was completed on the shoulder to alleviate constant maintenance issue that high truck traffic was creating when trucks’ wheels slid off of the road.
“The fines and stones in the shoulder gravel were disappearing from the road edge creating a drop off situation,” he said. “County staff would be constantly grading and replacing the deficient gravel levels.”
Extra paving reduced constant maintenance and the road is safer with the drop off problem improved. It created a safer work environment for staff as they spend less time on maintenance on high traffic roads.
Ough said the Region of Waterloo, adopted similar standards last year. He explained that beyond the paved edge, existing gravel shoulder widths are to remain unchanged if the remaining gravel shoulder is a half metre or more. Where remaining gravel width is less than half a metre, the remaining gravel will be replaced with full depth asphalt.
The asphalt surface will be comprised of 60mm of binder course asphalt and 50mm of surface asphalt.
Fully paved shoulders are typically to be included at:
– All guiderail locations;
– At residential front yards (not in front of agricultural or industrial uses);
– At steep gradient shoulders where erosion problems exist.
– Additional half metre pavement widening will be undertaken on the inside of curve sections where deemed advantageous.
When roads committee chairman Joanne Ross-Zuj presented the report, councillor Dennis Lever said the most heavily travelled road is County Road 46 in Puslinch Township, and he wondered what the time frame is for widening its shoulders.
Ough said it is in plans eventually for four lanes, but the intent is to do that with the growth out from Guelph towards Aberfoyle “We will do the last two kilometres to County Road 34,” he said. “We may do some work to get ready.”
There has been an environmental assessment of the area, and the work will be staged.
Councillor Shawn Watters asked if the committee considered the widening project a means of providing bicycle lanes on county roads.
Ross-Zuj said the committee looked at the project only for maintenance savings and safety.
Watters said perhaps one county road could be considered as a pilot project for a bicycle lane.
Ross-Zuj said she had forwarded the information to the active transportation group.
Ough noted there are seven asphalt resurfacing and reconstruction projects scheduled for this year. The reconstruction includes County Road 45 in Glen Allan and County Road 124 passing lanes at Brucedale. Resurfacing projects include parts of County Roads 5, 8, 14, 17, 19, and 29.
He proposed projects on County Roads 124, with a high average, 17 (high truck volumes and traffic speeds), 19 (speeds and land usage) and 29 (a high average) be paved at a nine metre width (with 124 as a one metre partially paved shoulder). Parts of County Roads 5, 8, and 45 will include fully paved shoulders as they are in residential areas and the remaining 14 will be paved at an eight metre width.
He said the money allocated for those 2011 projects includes a contingency, accounts for potential increases in asphalt and liquid asphalt cement and potential increases in construction costs. “The budgeted money may well cover the cost of the planned paving work with the asphalt widths.”
