PEIP.E.I. developer Tim Banks wants to know why the City of Charlottetown isn’t going ahead with extending Spencer Drive this year, saying doing so would open up more land for housing while easing perennial traffic issues near Royalty Crossing and Canadian Tire.Tim Banks says project would ease traffic clogs near Canadian Tire, Royalty CrossingTony Davis · CBC News · Posted: Aug 21, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago’Where did the money go and when are they going to respond to the demands of the city?’ asks Tim Banks, CEO of APM Group, who says extending Spencer Drive would ease traffic congestion while encouraging growth. (Tony Davis/CBC)P.E.I. developer Tim Banks wants to know why the City of Charlottetown isn’t going ahead with extending Spencer Drive this year, saying doing so would open up more land for housing while easing perennial traffic issues near Royalty Crossing and Canadian Tire.The proposed work, under discussion for about four years, would extend Spencer Drive to intersect with Mt. Edward Road and Ash Drive. Banks, the CEO of APM Group, told CBC News he was happy to see millions set aside for the project in drafts of the city’s most recent budget, since he and other developers want to put more buildings in the neighbourhood. Then there was no movement on the file, he said.”Where did the money go and when are they going to respond to the demands of the city?” Banks said. “We have a bigger plan to grow the area.”Banks said he has been trying to figure out what’s taking city officials so long to move ahead on the project, which could cost about $3 million.The expansion, shown in red on this graphic, would connect Spencer Drive to Mt. Edward Road, coming out on the opposite side of a new intersection with Ash Drive. (CBC)”They bought a couple of houses up at the top of the property,” he said, adding he expected the project to start in 2024.”They didn’t start it in the spring. They told us they were going to start it in the fall. It was on their website that they were going to have it done right away.”Traffic study has been completedThe Sherwood Crossing housing development, which Banks owns, includes a number of duplexes just south of the proposed expansion, off Towers Road. The extension would go in behind that area to connect to Mt. Edward Road — cutting across a section of the Confederation Trail.When Banks was building that project, he said, he gave a strip of land about 20 metres wide to the city on the condition that officials carry out a traffic study of the West Royalty area.Spencer Drive currently runs from the end of Capital Drive toward Canadian Tire on the left and the Royalty Crossing shopping centre on the right in this photo, eventually taking all drivers on a right-hand turn toward Towers Road. (Tony Davis/CBC)Over the years, residents in the area have raised concerns about the Spencer Drive plan adding more traffic to the area, but Banks said a traffic study the city funded demonstrated the opposite to be true. “The study clearly and unequivocally shows that it’ll help the traffic bottlenecks that we do have in that part of the city. And I think that’s where the city should be investing their money — to help people get home… you know, spend more time with their families or get to where they want to go,” he said.Banks speculates that the money that was to be set aside for the project this year was directed elsewhere.”All of a sudden there’s $3 million for a turf field over in Brighton so that some football club can play football while everybody is backed up in traffic on University Avenue and they’re backed up on Capital Drive,” Banks said.Funding, design still under discussionAn email Charlottetown city staff sent to CBC News said they were still in discussions with developers on the best approach for constructing the new road while the 2024-2025 budget was being finalized.”There wasn’t a formal decision to remove Spencer Drive funding and allocate it to the turf field; the funding was removed over uncertainty around whether the project would proceed this year,” the email said.Charlottetown is still working with funding partners on the road design and cost-sharing agreement for the Spencer Drive project, the email said, adding: “Significant co-ordination is required to ensure the road meets current standards and is properly integrated with adjacent development infrastructure.”The city said it submitted an application to the federal Canadian Housing Infrastructure Fund for water, sewer and storm-water infrastructure funding at the end of May. “We anticipate a decision on this funding in the coming months. At that time, staff hope to have a better understanding of the cost-sharing arrangement and to be in a position to make an informed recommendation to council,” the email said.ABOUT THE AUTHORTony Davis is a video journalist with a focus on municipal government, housing and addiction for CBC Prince Edward Island. He produces content for radio, digital and television. He grew up on P.E.I. and studied journalism at Holland College. You can email story ideas to anthony.davis@cbc.ca.
Developer annoyed that Charlottetown doesn’t share his urgency on extending Spencer Drive
