PEIA long-awaited plan to redesign one of P.E.I.’s busiest roadways remains tied up in negotiations, two and a half years after the City of Charlottetown first unveiled its plans.City officials originally hoped to get shovels in the ground in 2024Marilee Devries · CBC News · Posted: Sep 25, 2025 5:05 PM EDT | Last Updated: 1 hour agoThe biggest changes in the first phase of the project will be at the intersection of University and Belvedere avenues, which will include right-turn lanes in an effort to end the backlog of traffic near the university. (City of Charlottetown)A long-awaited plan to redesign one of P.E.I.’s busiest roadways remains tied up in negotiations, two and a half years after the City of Charlottetown first unveiled its plans.The revitalization of University Avenue would reach from Belvedere Avenue to Euston Street. It’s set to include new right-turn lanes, a centre median, two new intersections and bike lanes to improve traffic flow along the avenue, which runs through the centre of Charlottetown. Although city officials first hoped to get shovels in the ground by 2024, they now say it might be a couple more years before any work starts.”It’s not a matter of just… bringing in the bulldozers and, you know, digging and putting in infrastructure,” said Charlottetown Coun. Mitch Tweel, the chair of the city’s public works committee.”It’s so complex.”WATCH | Charlottetown’s ‘bold reimagination’ of University Avenue won’t be happening any time soon:Charlottetown’s ‘bold reimagination’ of University Avenue won’t be happening any time soonCity officials say plans for a redesign of Charlottetown’s University Ave remain tied up in negotiations — and it could be a couple of years yet before drivers and pedestrians see any work underway on one of the province’s busiest roadways. CBC’s Wayne Thibodeau explains why. Earlier this week, city council approved its wish list for funding under what used to be the federal government’s gas tax program, which is now known as the Canada Community Building Fund. It wants $20.8 million for a number of projects, including “phase one” of the University Avenue redesign, which would include work from Belvedere Avenue to Nassau Street.But a detailed breakdown shows that most of the spending for that project, if approved, won’t come through until the 2027-28 fiscal year. One of the city’s roadblocks has been securing a deal with Maritime Electric to bury power lines. Coun. Mitch Tweel says the plans for University Avenue are complex, and that ‘a project of this magnitude takes time.’ (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)Tweel said he is hopeful that a deal can happen, and believes that for projects of this magnitude, it should be a requirement for power lines to be buried.”I know it’s going to be costly, but… it’s an investment for the next 50 to 100 years,” he said. “So let’s get it right the first time.”‘Lots of stakeholders’Ylber Gashi, the city’s manager of public works, said one of the most complicated aspects of the project is getting everyone around the negotiating table.”We have lots of stakeholders along the corridor.” Ylber Gashi, Charlottetown’s manager of public works, says ‘pedestrians will feel safer and and the hope is that the drivers will feel safer as well’ once the University Avenue project is complete. (Wayne Thibodeau/CBC)Gashi said the plans unveiled back in 2023 still represent the project’s goals — but he said that the initial vision is a “broad look.””As we get into more detailed design, the goal is to try to realize that,” he said.”But we run into issues as we dig deeper into the project and into the infrastructure and into the different constraints that come up with it.” The overall goal is to make it safer, more efficient for pedestrian use, people and families using bikes and alternative forms of transportation.- Ylber Gashi, City of CharlottetownTweel said the city’s rapid population growth has increased the need to redesign University Avenue. “Let’s be candid here, this city currently is not built to accommodate all this traffic and to handle the requirements from a safety perspective, particularly our pedestrian traffic,” he said.”Whether you’re a cyclist, whether you’re a walker, people with disabilities that want to feel safe in our community, they’re just as important as the vehicle traffic.” The plans call for new set of traffic lights installed at University Avenue and Pond Street. (City of Charlottetown)Gashi echoed this.”The overall goal is to make it safer, more efficient for pedestrian use, people and families using bikes and alternative forms of transportation,” he said. “Also just making it safer for vehicle traffic as well, because it is a very, very busy roadway.”ABOUT THE AUTHORMarilee Devries is a journalist with CBC P.E.I. She has a journalism degree from Toronto Metropolitan University. She can be reached at marilee.devries@cbc.caWith files from Wayne Thibodeau
Redesign of Charlottetown’s University Avenue still years awayfrom getting started
