Report: Maley extension has cut traffic congestion, taken heavy trucks off city streets

Sudbury adds roundabout in Falconbridge Another roundabout is open in the Sudbury area. Joining the ones on Maley Drive is a new roundabout in the small community of Falconbridge.

The $80 million Maley Drive extension has eased traffic on busy streets like Lasalle Boulevard and the Kingsway, says a staff report headed to city council in Sudbury next week.

It has also succeeded in reducing the number of heavy trucks travelling through the city, the report said. It will go to city council July 10.

Construction began in 2016, with costs split equally between the city, the province and the federal government. Many critics predicted it would not ease traffic and would likely come in over budget.

Instead, it came in under budget.

“The project was completed within budget and completed a month earlier than the December 2019 completion date,” the report said.

“The project was tracking for a budget surplus, and council took the opportunity to expand the scope and constructed an additional two lanes between Barrydowne and Lansing.”

Daily vehicle traffic is at or near estimates, the report said, and the extension has succeeded in reducing congestion on some of the city’s busiest streets.

In particular, daily traffic on busy stretches of Lasalle is down about 14,000 vehicles a day -- in line with predictions – and 4,400 fewer vehicles take the Kingsway each day.

“The changes in traffic volumes predicted for adjacent area roads were also realized,” the report said.

“This included increased traffic volumes on Lansing Avenue, and Barrydowne Road north section, with decreased traffic volumes on Montrose Avenue, Woodbine Avenue, and Bancroft Drive.”

And the number of heavy ‘articulating’ trucks on Lasalle – the big, ore hauling and transport trucks – are down from 350 daily to 90.

“Overall, the total truck volumes on Lasalle Boulevard are reduced by 30 per cent to 40 per cent, with the volume of articulating trucks being reduced by 75 per cent,” the report said.

“It was predicted that Maley Drive would carry 1,000 to 1,500 trucks per day, and the actual volume is 1,400 per day, at the high range of the estimate.”

Phase 1 of Maley will be completed this summer. The intersection at Frood Road will be closed until September, to allow crews to install a roundabout and eliminate the traffic bottleneck currently in place.

“These intersections improvements will remove a source of congestion for the Maley Drive corridor as the queuing at this location regularly extended to the west past the snow dump entrance and to the east past the College Boreal roundabout,” the report said.

“As noted in the traffic volumes, approximately 25,000 vehicles are using this intersection a day. It is also the main entrance to Vale’s Frood/Stobie Mine Site.”

Phase 2 of the project, which hasn’t been funded, would expand Maley to four lanes from Lansing Avenue to Falconbridge Road, and from Frood Road to MR35.

See the full report here.