Cynthia King

Share the Road, Stratford Rd.

Cyclists across PEI have been trying to educate and activate governments, both municipally and provincially for decades. It is great to see the City of Charlottetown listening, learning and implementing plans for safer cycling.
Over here in Stratford, the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal has included ‘share the road’ signage and wider shoulders for cyclists.
Progress is happening and those who have been working on this should be congratulated for the work done to date:
Cycling PEI, all of those cyclists who have called and emailed TIR and their towns and cities departments, the governments and planners themselves and of course, motorists for learning how to share the road better with cyclists.

As mentioned, TIR has been working in my district of Stratford-Kinlock to make things safer with signage and wide shoulders:

- 12 Share the Road signs in high traffic areas in Stratford.
- 1.5 metre shoulders on both sides of the Stratford Rd. between Barclay and the blue church.

The City of Charlottetown now has these two areas with official bike lanes which includes painted lines and bike stenciled logos:

- Belvedere Avenue, from Brackley Point Road to Mount Edward Road;
- Maple Avenue, from Belvedere Avenue to Ash Drive.

Immediate plans to create dedicated bike lanes are in the works for the following areas:

- Belvedere Avenue, from Mount Edward Road through the new roundabout to Queen Street.
- Queen Street. The road doesn’t have the necessary width for a dedicated bike lane so the city will be putting up ‘Share the Road’ signage.
- Oak Drive, from Brackley Point Road to Maple Avenue.
- Pine Drive, from Brackley Point Road to Maple Avenue.
- Mount Edward Road, from Belvedere Avenue to the roundabout. That section will also be completely resurfaced.
- Allen Street, from the roundabout to the Confederation Trail.
- Allen Street, from the trail to Queen Street will be designated with ‘Share the Road’ signs.
- Mount Edward Road, from Belvedere Avenue to Woodlawn Drive. Work is now taking place on the shoulder of the road.
- University Avenue, from Belvedere Avenue to Capital Drive.

Let’s keep those wheels turning and make PEI safer for cyclists! in fact, let’s get out there and ride our bikes and get some exercise, save money on gas and help reduce our carbon footprint!

Stratford Road Construction 2010

Originally uploaded by cynthia dunsford

Please be extra careful for the next couple of months while construction takes place on the Stratford Road between the blue church and Barclay St. TIR is doing their best to keep the site safe but the public needs to take extra caution. Drive slowly and be prepared to stop suddenly. Try and stay off your cell phones even if you are using your bluetooth. Any distraction can cause a fender bender.

Full reconstruction of the road includes:

- cold planing the existing asphalt full depth;
- excavating the subbase;
- placing select borrow (sandstone);
- placing 300 mm of Class ‘A’ gravel;
- placing 110 mm of asphalt base (in two lifts);
- placing 45 mm of asphalt seal;
- replacing 900 metres of storm sewer;
- replacing approximately 25 catch basins (storm manholes);
- replacing the arch culvert between Quiet Water and Redding Heights with a concrete box culvert;
- placing new concrete curb along both sides of this section;
- replacing the sidewalk along the north side of the road;
- mill and pave 50 mm of asphalt through the Stratford Road/Keppoch Road intersection;
- improvements to the alignment of the Bayside Drive intersection;

There will also be a safe cycling shoulder on BOTH sides of the road of at least 1.5 metres. Work on the remainder of the Stratford Rd. to Glen Stewart Dr. is expected to begin after the completion of this project.

This morning I joined Jason Aspin and Paul Jamer of AKA  for the Expansion Announcement this morning at Aspin Kemp & Associates on Myrtle Ave. in Stratford. The announcement was made possible by PEI’s Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning Minister and ACOA. Ministers Allan Campbell and Keith Ashfield were both on hand to congratulate and encourage AKA in their future growth and development.

Congratulations to Aspin Kemp for such a successful first year on Prince Edward Island. Their company has grown considerably since coming to PEI just over a year ago. They quickly grew out of their initial space in the Stratford Business Park and now occupy a much larger space where all of their projects can be developed and tested. Good to see Aspin Kemp employing skilled Islanders and giving them valuable experience all over the world. Aspin Kemp is making Stratford and PEI a better place to live and work.

PEI has a decent start to a Province-wide lawn pesticide ban. There is more work to do with the regulations, but for now let’s start learning about the safe ways to take care of our lawns.

Safe Lawns dot org is a great resource, and in fact, Paul Tukey, founder of Safe Lawns dot org, is traveling across PEI to help Islanders learn about organic lawn care. He is also giving a very comprehensive back story about the history of lawn pesticides and the public’s reaction to their use. He also provides some real practical solutions for those concerned about the look of their lawn. There was a great turnout at the Charlottetown session. The evening viewing of the film “Chemical Reaction” was a smaller crowd, but the film was available for sale, and I bought one, so let me know if you want to check it out. Fascinating piece of work and worth watching.

One of the ideas for applying organic fertilizer to your lawn is Compost Tea! Which includes steeping some compost for a certain amount of time and applying the liquid to your lawn. Luck for us here on PEI there is a new business starting up in Oyster Bed called “Oyster Bed Compost”. Owner, Sid Annema, is producing a high value compost tea available to the public very soon.

His contact info is:

Sid Annema
902-628-5845
sidney_annema@hotmailcom

Here is the contact info for the Department of Environment Energy and Forestry:

New "Share the Road" signs, a new crosswalk, sidewalks, road repair and resurfacing.

It is the time of year when road construction across PEI is coming to an end. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Minister Ron MacKinley and the Department of Transportation and Public Works for all the great work completed in the district of Stratford-Kinock this past season. I have received many phone calls, emails etc. from pleased residents about all of the improvements made to our community’s roads, sidewalks and bike lanes.

The “Share the Road” signs are a first for PEI and I want to thank TPW Deputy Mnister, Steve MacLean for his dedication to safety for cyclists in Stratford and on PEI.

As well, a big thank you for the long-awaited crosswalk between the CGI building and the the Stratford Pharmacy and Robins Donuts. This new crosswalk has already helped solved the safety issue on this very busy section of the Stratford Rd.

Wider shoulders were also constructed to help make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The section of the Keppoch Road by Pondside Park now has a better lane for cyclists, on both sides, thanks to the foresight of Alan Aitken of TPW in adjusting the lines enough to help create a small shoulder, where before there was no shoulder at all.

Queens County Supervisor, Malclom MacKenzie and the crews at TPW… THANK YOU! Stratford is a much safer place to drive, ride, walk and play.

Officials display drawings of the new Glen Stewart Elementary School. Work on the school has started. From left: Gerard Greenan, minister of Education and Early Childhood Development; Pat Campbell, Glen Stewart principal; Bob Clow, Eastern School District Board chair; and area MLA Cynthia Dunsford. Submitted photo

TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian

Bulldozers and construction crews are busy hauling mounds of red Island dirt from the field next to Glen Stewart now that construction of a new elementary school for Stratford is underway.
Cabinet approved the new school in June as part of the recommendations in the Eastern School District’s controversial School Organization Plan.
That report proposed closure of 11 of the district’s 43 schools, eight of which were approved for closure by government in June.
Unlike most schools in the province, Glen Stewart’s student population has been climbing steadily. As a result, the school has been bursting at the seams for years.
The school’s capacity is 600, but there are currently 647 students attending the school, not counting teachers and other staff.
The new 54,000-square-foot facility being built will relieve this overpopulation by taking all the students and staff in Grades 4-6 and housing them in their own separate school.
After enduring years of overcrowding, this new school is happily embraced by parents and teachers at Glen Stewart.
“Before this, I was hearing quite a bit of concern from parents and different groups that had formed to try and make the government more aware of the problems at Glen Stewart,” said Stratford MLA Cynthia Dunsford.
“People have been very excited in anticipation of the start of construction and now people are happy it’s finally underway.”
Glen Stewart principal Pat Campbell said one of the biggest challenges her staff has faced in the last several years has been in trying to find enough teaching space in the overpopulated school.
“We have 34 homerooms this year, so that space has been exhausted,” she said.
“This decision to build a new school is an exciting one for the town of Stratford, a growing community, and one that we need to be proactive in looking ahead about so that we have educational facilities that meet the needs of the community.”
The new school will have capacity for 420 students. It will be a standalone school, complete with a gymnasium and its own resource and staff rooms. It’s being built using the design of the West Royalty Elementary School, costing government an estimated $8.7 million.
That cost was not contained in the province’s five-year capital budget, but Education Minister Gerard Greenan said the money has nonetheless been found.
“Because of our government’s decision to move kindergarten into the public school system, we had to make special allowances for some new construction.”
The money is not, however, coming out of the Education and Early Childhood Development’s budget, he added.
“Requests for that money went through the provincial treasury and treasury approved it,” Greenan said. “It’s special (warrant) — it does not exist in our current budget.”
Watching the construction crews hard at work on the future site of the new school, Campbell couldn’t contain her excitement. Crews only began working on the project last week, and already the basic layout of where the school will stand is taking shape on the grounds.
“It’s unbelievable — just last week we looked out on the field and now it’s starting to happen,” she said.
“This is something that we’ve dreamed about.”
Construction is set to be complete for the 2010 school year.