Regional council will get a first look at design options next week for the 10-year-old plan to bring a roundabout to the Franklin Boulevard and Saginaw Parkway intersection, including a preferred option to create a roundabout and pedestrian tunnel under Franklin for students to get across the street safely.
The troubled intersection near St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School was part of an eight kilometre section of Franklin Boulevard where an environmental assessment was completed in 2010 that recommended a raised centre median and roundabouts.
In 2013, the design of a three-lane roundabout at Franklin Boulevard/Saginaw Parkway was deferred because of operational concerns with roundabouts near high schools.
The intersection of Franklin Boulevard and Saginaw Parkway has one of the highest pedestrian demands in the region with over 800 pedestrians recorded crossing Franklin Boulevard during the peak hour, a total of approximately 1,600 daily crossings and enrolment of 1,800 students at the adjacent St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School.
A new study was initiated in 2021 to complete a technical review of transportation improvements and provide recommendations.
Meetings with community stakeholders over the last few years provided input into the design concepts that will be presented to the region's active transportation advisory committee next week. Those stakeholders included the City of Cambridge, St. Benedict Catholic Secondary School, Bennies Parent Council, the Community Development Coordinator, Fiddlesticks Community Centre, Greenway -Chaplin Community Centre, Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR), Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB), a CNIB Advocate and Vision Loss Rehabilitation Canada.
The concepts were ranked and include retaining a signalized intersection at Franklin and Saginaw, but adding a roundabout at Green Vista Drive. A second alternative places a roundabout at Franklin, Saginaw and Elgin with signalized pedestrian crossing north on Franklin.
The third, preferred, option places a roundabouts at Franklin, Saginaw and Elgin, and Green Vista Drive, and elevates the roadway over a pedestrian tunnel between the school grounds and plaza across the street.
A roundabout is also proposed for Franklin at Can-Amera Parkway.
The top reason for choosing the concept is the tunnel would give direct access for pedestrians and cyclists across Franklin Boulevard.
During nighttime periods when pedestrian and vehicle traffic demands are low, pedestrian movements can be accommodated using the at-grade crossings.
It also provides improved safety for people with vision loss crossing Franklin Boulevard, improves safety by limiting vehicular access on Saginaw Parkway and the movement of pedestrian crossings to one of two roundabouts.
The multi-use paths that are part of the plan would accommodate cyclists and pedestrians.
The region plans to hold a public meeting in March to discuss the concepts with residents before presenting a conceptual design recommendation to council later this spring.
The region would then hire a detailed design consultant this summer followed by design work, property acquisition, and utilities relocation work between now and planned construction beginning in 2027.
