At the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee (PWIC) meeting we received a detailed presentation from the Ministry of Transportation on a planned Highway 417 rapid bridge replacements at Woodroffe and Maitland. The work involves replacing the bridge decks and related structure, rebuilding and adjusting the approaches, and making associated corridor improvements – including better active transportation connections – while managing significant but time-limited impacts like weekend highway closures, detours, and several weeks of local road closures during construction. Construction starts in 2028.

Much of the meeting focused on the City’s response to Councillor Troster’s inquiry about restricting right turns on red. While residents urged broader bans to improve pedestrian safety, staff emphasized an evidence-based, case-by-case approach – and cautioned that blanket, network-wide restrictions can create new safety risks, increase congestion, and raise compliance/enforcement challenges. Staff also pointed to recent collision analysis showing right-turn movements make up a small share of fatal/major injury collisions involving vulnerable road users – and that very few were directly linked to right turns on red.