Residents in Mississauga’s north end will learn in the next couple of months if a pilot project that introduced bicycle lanes to a busy street in their community in 2023 will become permanent, the city says.

Under the trial run, which has received mixed reviews from the public since it was introduced nearly three years ago, a large stretch of Aquitaine Avenue in Meadowvale has undergone major changes. Included in the pilot, one lane of traffic was eliminated and bicycle lanes were added in an effort to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians and cyclists, the City of Mississauga said at the outset of the project.

The Aquitaine Avenue Road Safety Pilot Project reduced a section of the busy four-lane road to three lanes in summer 2023 in an effort to make it safer and reduce speeding. It’s among a number of road safety improvement initiatives across the city.

A city spokesperson told INsauga.com on Wednesday that both short- and long-term plans for Aquitaine Avenue will be shared with residents later this spring.

Senior city staff are in the process of finalizing recommendations for Aquitaine Avenue that will comply with new provincial legislation regarding bike lanes that took effect in December and consider all feedback received from the community, the spokesperson added.

Staff are also making plans to “address the timely removal of the pilot infrastructure and the installation of the permanent design.”

Aquitaine Avenue in north Mississauga is one of three areas in that part of the city targeted for improvement via City of Mississauga road safety projects.

The city held a public meeting last June, among other consultation efforts, to gather additional feedback from the community on the Aquitaine Avenue project as well as two other road safety initiatives in the area — on Argentia Road (signalized driveway east of Winston Churchill Boulevard to Turner Valley Road) and Millcreek Drive (from Derry Road West to Britannia Road West).

“We’re working to make roads safer and more accessible. That’s why we’re doing a study to review three roads in Ward 9 for future infrastructure improvements,” city officials said at the time.

Earlier in the Aquitaine Avenue pilot study, the city said that every street should be safe for all residents and “that’s why we’ve modified Aquitaine Avenue to a three-lane system with bike lanes, parking spaces and a left-turn lane.”

The changes have been implemented on Aquitaine Avenue between Tenth Line West in west Meadowvale and Millcreek Drive, by Meadowvale GO station. One section of the busy roadway passes by Meadowvale Town Centre, where both pedestrian and vehicle traffic are heavy.

A number of Meadowvale residents who live near Aquitaine Avenue have publicly stated their opposition to the changes becoming permanent.

Map shows Aquitaine Avenue, between Tenth Line West and Millcreek Drive.


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