West Royalty residents worried about road overhaul coming to their neighbourhood
Some residents in the West Royalty neighbourhood of Charlottetown are concerned about road work set to start this fall.
The city plans to extend Spencer Drive to Mount Edward Road as part of a major overhaul of the roads in and around the Royalty Crossing mall.
Marilyn Thompson lives on Ash Drive and is worried extending Spencer Drive will mean more traffic on her street.
"We just recently moved here and I am now finding out about the intersection," Thompson said. "I worry about the children crossing over the street to get to the playground."
Donna Simms and her family also live on Ash Drive. She said if the project goes through, there will be other unwelcome changes.
"The last thing we want in this neighbourhood is big flashing lights, more traffic, more housing. This is a nice, quiet street. We have enough traffic as it is on Mount Edward Road without adding to it."
City planning for future growth
Scott Adams, public works manager for the City of Charlottetown, said the changes will help improve safety.
"We know that there's a lot of growth that's going to happen in this area in the next five, 10 years and so we're trying to get out ahead of it," he said.
"We're hearing upwards — in the next coming years — of potentially 750 units with some of the development that may be happening. That's a lot of vehicle movement."
Adams said people won't be able to drive straight through Spencer Drive onto Ash Drive while the work is going on.
They'll have to turn onto Mount Edward Road, and a concrete median will prevent them from going straight through to Ash.
The Spencer Drive extension is part of a much bigger plan that will see several new roads in the area, as well as the widening of other roads to four, five and even six lanes.
The City of Charlottetown is now working with a consultant to come up with the final plans, and figure out how much they will cost.
Public feedback on the project is open until May 23.
