The City of Hamilton will be moving forward with the expansion of a five-kilometre stretch of Rymal Road between Upper James Street and Dartnall Road.
Currently, throughout that stretch of road, there is one lane in each direction and a middle turning lane. There are also sidewalks on both sides of the road.
Under the new plan, the corridor will be expanded to a five-lane cross section, which will have two lanes in each direction, a middle turning lane, and a multi-use path on the north side of the road.
The recommended plan was brought forward after the completion of the Rymal Road Municipal Class Environmental Assessment earlier this year.
The portions of Rymal Road to the east and west of the five-kilometre corridor have already been expanded to a five-lane cross section in recent years.
The capital cost of proceeding with design and construction is estimated to be approximately $88 million and includes detailed design, utilities, streetlighting, traffic control, roadworks, stormwater works, and property needs.
Construction will take place in four phases and is currently slated to start in 2028, with an estimated completion in 2034.
Phase one will be from Dartnall Road to Upper Ottawa Street and is a one kilometre stretch that is expected to take two years and cost $16.5 million.
Phase two will be from Upper Ottawa Street to Upper Sherman Avenue and is a 1.6-kilometre stretch that is expected to take two years and cost $26.7 million.
Phase three will be from Upper Sherman Avenue to Upper Wentworth Street and is an 800-metre portion that is expected to take one year and cost $13.3 million.
The final stretch, phase four, will be from Upper Wentworth Street to Upper James Street and is a 1.8-kilometre portion that is expected to take two years and cost $31.5 million.
After construction, the annual operating and maintenance cost for the stretch of road is predicted to be $815,000.
City staff previously explained to Council that Rymal Road is one of the city’s “most important corridors” and that it has “huge development potential.”
Rymal Road is also a part of the city’s Truck Route Masterplan, often carries spillover from the Lincoln Alexander Parkway and Red Hill Valley Parkway, and is a part of the future S-Line route of the city’s planned rapid transit network.
Staff added that the stretch of road is in need of replacement anyway.
When the plan was brought forward to City Council earlier this year, 14 members voted in favour of the expansion, while two Councillors voted against.
Those two Councillors were Cameron Kroetsch (Ward 2 – Downtown Hamilton) and Craig Cassar (Ward 12 – Ancaster-West Flamborough).
Kroetsch told Council that the lane expansion “will encourage growth in personal vehicle use, which has a negative impact on climate change.”
However, staff explained that the expansion is an “all-encompassing project beyond the service of personal vehicles.”
“It is a significant truck and goods movement corridor that needs to function regardless of the road design, [the expansion] also plays a big role in supporting future transit developments,” continued staff.
They added that there is the potential in the future that one lane in each direction will be turned into a bus lane, and that they are adding a multi-use path, which will encourage cycling.
Cassar said that he is “concerned that making wider roads just makes things more dangerous” for pedestrians and will cause people to drive faster.
He also expressed concern about the multi-use path, saying that it puts pedestrians and cyclists “in conflict” rather than separate cycling infrastructure.
But staff explained that a multi-use path was best in order to minimize property impacts.
“I think there are different ways that different municipalities have done it better than just expanding,” Cassar concluded.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
