The City of Richmond is proposing upgrades to several roads and intersections to the tune of nearly $13 million – including one of the busiest at Cambie and No. 5 roads.
The city’s public works and transportation committee will vote on endorsing a funding submission to ICBC’s annual road improvement next week. According to a city staff report, the city would ask for funding for 16 “bundles of projects.”
Several roads or intersections are listed under each proposed project “bundle,” which include, for example, the installation of special crosswalks, video detection cameras, pedestrian signals, pedestrian or multi-use pathways and overhead LED street name signs.
“ICBC’s potential funding contribution to these projects will be determined by historical traffic crash rates at these locations and the estimated reduction in ICBC claim costs resulting from the proposed traffic safety improvements…and the total funding available,” the report reads.
In total, the estimated cost of the all of the projects is $12,903,400, with the city’s portion estimated at $8,175,060. TransLink has also confirmed over $4.7 million to help fund the projects.
If any of the submitted projects are approved for funding from ICBC, then the city’s portion of the total cost would be reduced accordingly, according to the city staff report.
The ICBC road improvement program was set up in 1990 to help fund projects designed to reduce the frequency and/or severity of crashes at “high risk locations,” as well as reduce claim costs. Richmond, meanwhile, has been partnering with the Crown Corporation on projects since 1994.
Over the past five years, ICBC has contributed a total of $1,227, 390 towards the city’s transportation projects.
The program helps the city to “undertake more traffic safety enhancements than it could do alone, but also to expedite some of these road safety improvements,” according to a city staff report.
The ICBC funding application is on the agenda for Tuesday’s public works and transportation committee meeting.
