Image: M. Vanden Bosch / PML / The City of Chilliwack has applied for provincial funding to add sidewalks and cycling lanes to this section of Keith Wilson Road between the Tyson Road roundabout and Garrison Boulevard.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Sardis improvements

City of Chilliwack hopes to add sidewalks and cycling lanes to parts of Tyson Road and Keith Wilson Road in Sardis

Oct 5, 2022 | 9:49 AM

CHILLIWACK — Chilliwack City Council approved a motion at its meeting yesterday (October 4) to pursue a plan to add sidewalks and cycling lanes to both sides of Tyson Road between Evans Road and Watson Road, and on Keith Wilson between Tyson Road and Garrison Boulevard, in Sardis.

More specifically, Chilliwack City Council had been asked to authorize staff to apply for shared funding under the B.C. government’s Active Transportation Grant, which could see the city receive significant funding towards project costs to fund the development of active transportation infrastructure for all ages and abilities.

The provincial grant typically covers things like multi-use protected travel lanes, pedestrian and cycling safety improvements, and lighting and way finding for up to two-shovel ready projects, according to a staff report.

Of note, the Tyson Road project is already included in the city’s capital plan, has been identified in the 2018 Transportation Plan Update, and accounts for a core cycling route in the 2017 Cycle Vision Plan. McElhanney Consulting Services completed a pre-design evaluation of the Tyson Road project in 2018 and determined a Class C estimate would cost $5.3 million.

If both grants are successful, the City is expected to receive up to approximately $1.5 million towards the Tyson Road project, leaving the remaining $3.8 million to be funded by the capital budgets in the 2022 and 2023 budgets, according to city staff.

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The Tyson Road component of the project consists of street lighting, barrier curbs, sidewalks, drainage, cycle lanes, and vehicle lane improvements; it will connect a north-south network from Wellington Avenue to Canada Education Park and the UFV Chilliwack campus.

Similarly, the Keith Wilson component of the project calls for street lighting, barrier curbs, sidewalks, cycle lanes and cycle tracks, and vehicle lane improvements to finish an important connection between Garrison, Tzeachten First Nation and Stitó:s Lá:lém Totí:lt Elementary-Middle school.

The Keith Wilson project itself will cost the city approximately $700,000, even if both grant applications to the province are successful, in its 2022 and 2023 budgets.

Councillor Harv Westeringh asked city staff if federal funding might be available for Keith Wilson improvements in the same way that Tyson Road improvements received $1 million from the Canada Active Transportation Fund.

Kara Jeffords, deputy director of engineering for the City of Chilliwack, advised Westeringh, “We have applied for the federal funding; we haven’t yet heard if that’s been awarded yet. For that intake, we were only allowed one application. For this one, because it was allowed two, we could stack the contributions for Tyson. We decided to apply for both.”

Councillor Jeff Shields added, “What a great opportunity to get a quick win here and connect up some pathways and cycle ways that are disconnected at this point. Hopefully it goes through and we can get this done real quick.”

The project timeline is unknown at this point.

by Mike Vanden Bosch

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City of Chilliwack hopes to add sidewalks and cycling lanes to parts of Tyson Road and Keith Wilson Road in Sardis

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