The Lancaster Street on and off ramps to Highway 85 are back up for debate after Kitchener council voted to not endorse the proposed plan. On Monday night, council voted to not endorse the plan to permanently close the Highway 85 ramps on Lancaster Street. Council said the ramps are too important and traffic implications would be significant. “We have a significant number of units coming in. There’s actually a proposed 1,200 new homes which is going to equate to 2,000 or 3,000 more people right in that exact corner of Bridgeport and Lancaster where the traffic is the absolute worst and these ramps that are proposed to be shut down are just down the road from that which will only add to that congestion,” said Scott Dave, Kitchener city councillor. But the decision ultimately rests with the region and not the city. On Tuesday, the region voted in favour of closing the ramps with a vote of 10 to five. The region argued that the ramps make the highway unsafe. According to a staff report, over the last 10 years, the rate of collisions on the expressway between Bridgeport Road and Lancaster Street was four times higher than it would have been without the weaving pattern. The region said the closures will make Lancaster Street safer for pedestrians. Waterloo resident Peter Lehman rode his bike to the regional council meeting. “Safe bicycle infrastructure and these ramps cannot coincide, and the need for safe bicycle infrastructure is clear, and therefore if we can’t do it safely with these ramps we should take this opportunity to delete them,” Lehman told CTV News. The region is planning a reconstruction of Lancaster that would include bike lanes and sidewalks. On March 7, regional councillors got their first look at the proposal to close the off ramps. The vote will still need to be ratified at a meeting on April 12.
