The rough ride across the patchy pavement on Balmoral Street in Thunder Bay will soon be a thing of the past.

The city is planning an intensive project which would see the cross-town route resurfaced, while also filling in ditches, and adding curbs, gutters, sidewalks and multi-purpose trails.

The construction is scheduled to take up to three years, beginning in 2016 with the stretch of Balmoral Street between the McIntyre River and Alloy Drive, according to project engineer Mike Vogrig. The section between Alloy and Beverly Streets will follow.

Image | Balmoral Street map

Caption: The City of Thunder Bay is planning improvements to Balmoral Street between the McIntyre River and Beverly Street. (City of Thunder Bay)

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"The road itself is in the middle of the city but it isn't built to an urban standard, we have open ditches there," Vogrig said.

Filing in the ditches will also help create additional space for sidewalks and multi-use trails on the route, he said.

The initial public comment period on the project wraps up on Wednesday, with an extension for some Balmoral Street businesses.

Vogrig said the comments so far have been positive.

"From cycling user groups and some other user groups we've seen some requests for multi-use paths on both sides of the road, he said. "From the general public there has been some questions about how the intersections will look."

The city will respond to the first round of comments and make any necessary revisions to the project before a second phase of public consultations in the new year," Vogrig said.

You can see more images of the city's plans on the consultant's website.