Road Closures for Construction on Fitzgerald Avenue Improvements

Project Update:

Crews are making steady progress on the Fitzgerald Corridor Cycling Expansion Project. In order to expedite the project, on Monday September 30 and Tuesday October 1 between 7:00 am and 5:00 pm, the current road closure between 5^th and 6^th Streets will be extended to 8^th Street/Cumberland Road, for paving.

On those days, Fitzgerald Avenue between 5^th and 8^th, as well as the work zone on 6^th Street, are expected to reopen in the evenings outside of work hours, with a partial daytime reopening of the project corridor starting on Wednesday October 2, weather permitting. 

Previously: September 17, 2019

Work is underway on a section of Fitzgerald Avenue in preparation for the Fitzgerald Corridor Cycling Expansion Project, resulting in traffic impacts on this busy corridor. Preparatory construction in the area has been ongoing since late August.

Starting Monday, September 23, the project will require a full road closure on Fitzgerald Avenue between 5^th and 6^th Streets, as well as 6^th Street between Fitzgerald and Grant Avenues, for approximately two weeks, weather permitting. Detours will be in place.

To avoid delays, commuters are encouraged to use alternate routes during construction.

The project will complete the missing link between the protected bike lanes on 5^th Street and the painted bike lanes on Fitzgerald Avenue at Cumberland Road.

The project will include:

• New painted bike lanes and road markings
• Signage
• New pedestrian-controlled flashing beacons across Fitzgerald Avenue at 6^th Street 
• New curb extensions to shorten the crossing distance for pedestrians

During construction, commuters are asked to watch for traffic control personnel, drive with caution around crews, and follow all posted signage.

A second phase of the project will extend the Fitzgerald bike lane from 21^st to 26^th Streets, as well as add road markings to 19^th Street. Once completed, the full Fitzgerald Corridor Cycling Expansion project will provide critical connections from the City of Courtenay's downtown core to the Courtenay Riverway and Driftwood Mall, and provide a continuous north-south spine which will form the foundation of the cycling network on the west side of the City. Work on the southern portion of Fitzgerald will commence this fall.

Courtenay received provincial funding for this project from the BikeBC program, a cost-sharing program that provides financial support for communities to create new cycling infrastructure and improve existing transportation networks, making local transportation safer, greener and more accessible. In addition to the Fitzgerald Corridor Cycling Expansion, the $227,655 grant will support a separate upcoming cycling network project on Hobson Avenue later this year.

For more information, please visit www.courtenay.ca/fitzgeraldcyclingproject or contact City of Courtenay Public Works at 250-338-1525 or email publicworks@courtenay.ca