Hamilton City Council recently received a report from engineering consultant company Morrison Hershfield Limited, which outlined the costs and options for improving the Red Hill Valley Parkway (Red Hill) and the Lincoln Alexander Parkway (the LINC), including potential widening.
In the end, Council decided to direct municipal staff to move forward with public and stakeholder engagement on potential improvements to the LINC, including widening the roadway to three lanes in each direction.
Changes to the Red Hill are more complicated since the City of Hamilton has agreements with Indigenous groups regarding any modifications to the roadway.
Once public and stakeholder engagement on design improvements to the LINC are complete, Transportation Planning and Parking staff will report back to the Public Works Committee with a Terms of Reference and cost estimate to undertake the next phases of the Environmental Assessment process.
City staff note that both the LINC and the Red Hill are operating “at or above capacity in the morning and afternoon rush hour periods.”
Staff note that the 108-page feasibility study from Morrison Hershfield concludes that “one additional travel lane on the LINC in each direction can be achieved within the existing right-of-way by widening inward toward the centre.”
It should be noted that the LINC opened in 1997, almost 30 years ago, while the Red Hill opened in 2007, which is almost 20 years ago.
Staff also note that both parkways were originally designed to ultimately be six lanes wide, but were built to four lanes.
“Both parkways were also designed to be expanded toward the centre of the right-of-way,” continues the staff briefing.
However, high-level cost estimates predict that the costs for a six-lane widening of the LINC would be $81.5 million, while the Red Hill would cost $56.2 million.
Potential interim improvements, such as localized widening, are estimated at $21 million for the LINC and $13.3 million for the Red Hill.
The Morrison Hershfield study says that both the LINC and the Red Hill “need to be improved and optimized” due to projected population increases within Hamilton.
The report also notes that since both parkways are prone to congestion, there are often high lane-to-lane speed differentials, which impact safety.
The study considered possible alternatives to a full widening of the LINC, including localized widenings and geometric improvements, converting an existing lane to an HOV lane, improving active transportation networks along the parkway, improving connections to the 403 and QEW, and increasing transit along the LINC and Red Hill.
However, the consultants conclude that only a full widening or localized widening of the highway would adequately address congestion problems.
It remains to be seen when the city will start the next phase of public consultation.
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.
