WELLINGTON COUNTY – A multi-year study on Wellington County’s large road network recommends a large investment on many roads nearing capacity limits.
The road master action plan (RMAP) began in January 2021 to look at Wellington County’s road needs and improvements to 2041.
The final report is being presented to the roads committee on Tuesday at a virtual meeting.
Preliminary recommendations find seven road segments are expected to reach or exceed capacity limits in 20 years. Therefore, the study identifies $136.2 million in improvements to the roads and gives a recommended time frame for each. Improvements include adding lanes, road widening, intersection improvements and encouraging transit alternatives among others.
The most pressing recommendation is improvements to Wellington Road 124 within five years.
Wellington Road 124 between the Region of Waterloo and City of Guelph boundaries is recommended to follow improvements identified in an existing environmental assessment at a cost of $15.8 million.
These recommendations include adding roundabouts, road widening and centre left turn lanes.
Between five and 10 years, the study recommends improvements to Wellington Road 18 between Elora and Fergus at an estimated cost of $17.5 million. Recommendations include restricting parking and adding additional lanes.
Most recommendations are forecasted to take place beyond 10 years.
The most significant of these recommendations is a $77.8 million expansion to Wellington Road 7 between the Highway 6 junction and Elora. The study recommends widening the road, improvements to intersections and bridge replacement.
Other roads needing improvement identified as needing improvement within 20 years are: Wellington Road 46 between Maltby Road and Road 34, Wellington Road 32 between Wellington Road 124 and Highway 7, Wellington Road 21 between Wellington Road 7 and Region of Waterloo boundary and Wellington Road 86 between Wellington Road 10 and Wallenstein.
The report says these study recommendations are consistent with previous transportation related reviews undertaken by the county.
The full RMAP study is being presented to the roads committee at a virtual meeting on Tuesday and will need full county council ratification later in the month.
