Skip to content

After a lengthy discussion, council takes next step in Reid Street revitalization

Councillors go over beautification aspects of proposed $6-plus-million-dollar capital project
9604564_web1_171201-QCO-reid-street-revit-streetscape_1

City of Quesnel took another step toward a referendum of the Reid Street Revitalization Project on Nov. 28.

Urban Systems landscape architect Shasta McCoy gave a presentation on the detailed streetscape design and she and professional engineer Rick Collins answered questions from Mayor Bob Simpson and councillors, who also made some comments on the design.

Following the lengthy discussion, there was a motion that council approve the suggested design/preferred products in the Urban Systems report and direct staff to proceed to the pre-qualification of general contractors with the goal of tendering the project in February 2018.

The motion was passed, with Councillors Ron Paull and Sushil Thapar voting against the motion. They both said they liked the plan and details, but were uncomfortable with only one lane of traffic.

The goal is to move to the construction phase in the summer of 2018.

Revitalization

The initial reason for digging up the streets was to repair the water mains on both Reid Street and Barlow Avenue, which are both near aged-out status – installed in the early 1950s – and are considered a catastrophe waiting to happen.

Because there are connector pipes, which are also very old, from the water mains to the buildings, they would need to be replaced.

That would require digging Reid Street up from sidewalk to sidewalk.

Streetscape

With that in mind, and public demand for parking on Reid Street, attention turned to the City’s new branding project, which includes a modern and pedestrian-friendly downtown concept.

McCoy said this led to the vision of wider, more accessible sidewalks that would encourage people to stroll along the downtown shopping core.

This would provide more foot traffic and window shopping for the businesses along Reid Street.

McCoy took council through the amenities, such as the curved benches for social interaction, curb letdowns in each block for dropping people off from a vehicle near accessible parking zones, shrubbery, trees, boulders with stripes of Quesnel’s colours around them, lamps, garbage containers and coloured lanes would lead people in safe street crossing and serve as a “buffer strip” to allow people to get out of the main traffic area and in to a quiet area where they stop and chat or just take a break.

For more details of the streetscape and how it will look, go to the City website at www.quesnel.ca.

Tendering

Collins explained it was important to go to tender as early as possible because there could be some significant cost savings.

The City could get started early in the construction season and, thereby, get the project completed in one calendar year, which save a lot of money by not having to pay staging costs and inflation on material.

Mayor Simpson noted that was a lesson the City learned with the West Fraser Centre construction.

Collins added it was important to get a qualified general contractor on board with what the City needs to be done and keeping the business informed about business closures during water main connections and the pouring and curing of concrete sidewalks.

The mayor noted that before they start thinking how they can fit everything into the budget, council needs to get some firm figures from the construction market costs.

Single lane

Collins noted that one of the big pieces of the revitalization is going down to single-lane traffic on Reid Street, except for when people drive into two lanes at the intersections and then back into a single lane on Reid Street.

There will be bulges that round out the intersection corners.

Barlow Avenue

After a lot of discussion with the City and businesses, it was determined Barlow Avenue would be a two-way road, Collins explained.

Q&A

Coun. Ed Coleman noted that in many communities with trees in their sidewalks, trees can actually limit accessibility, so you have people with visibility issues running into the trees or the branches.

Coleman noted he thought the boulder in front of the Post Office is a drawback because it’s a nice public space for people to visit.

Coleman added he’s a little concerned about the intersection bulges if there’s enough distance for these big trucks with racks on them turn the corner without mirrors contacting or a pedestrian getting smacked.

Parking

Coun. Paull noted he had asked Collins if he knew of other towns or cities that have angle and parallel parking on a one-way street.

“I still have a concern about two big trucks parked on opposite sides of the street but at the same point on the street exiting their parking [slots] not knowing the other vehicle is exiting and what conflicts that might present. I need some assurance that’s not a problem.”

Collins said there are a couple of streets in New York that have parallel and angle parking on them.

“We have a lane that is 6.5 metres wide and a normal single city standard lane is 3.6 metres wide.”

He added they ensured a City fire truck could get around those corners.

Coun. Scott Elliott said he wants to make sure trees wouldn’t be obstructing business signage but having the shade there, especially during the hot summer, is very important.

He added it will be important to talk to the businesses and the accessibility groups about the extensions (bulges) in the intersections.

Canada Post

City manager Byron Johnson let council know Canada Post is opposed to having anything in the wider patio area in front of their building.

The mayor said he had made a note on this issue.

“I invite a resolution from council that a letter go to the minister responsible for Canada Post and our MP asking for intervention so we can actually do something in that space as part of the community beautification and that Canada Post get off the pot.

“It’s a community space. Yes, it’s part of their building, but we need to take it to the political level.”

The resolution was moved, seconded and unanimously passed.

Simpson asked staff to expedite the letter going out.

Mayor’s comments

The mayor said this is an integrated theme in our key retail space, which he thinks is coming together really nicely.

“The way you have integrated the rocks and even the city colours and the sitting areas, etc., I think it really is a really important step in having that integrated space.”

Once they get some final pricing, Simpson said council will know how far down the road it can go in our final beautification.

“I do think there is some consultation and other questions for the BIAs [Business Improvement Associations] to fine tune and validate that we got some of it right.”

400 Block

Simpson noted the 400 block of Reid Street was missing in the presentation.

“It would be really nice to see some designs around that area to see what a wider sidewalk could do and get in after post-price to fine tune the finishing.

“I think it would be interesting to have a conservation, particularly with the restaurants in that block, about what we could do to integrate their sidewalks with what we’ve got and how it could integrate with outdoor patio space for those restaurants.”

Shepherd Avenue

The mayor said he didn’t like the idea of the water main “creeping onto Shepherd Avenue”.

“I think this is the three blocks of Reid Street; it starts at Carson and terminates at Shepherd.”

He suggested taking the creep into Shepherd Avenue out of the project and use the $300,000 for amenities.

A resolution was moved, seconded and passed unanimously.

Communication liaison

Noting that all the way through developing the project, the City wanted to have a tight communication with the businesses throughout the whole process.

“We’re going to have to market the heck out the downtown core area that we’re still open for business. We’ll do all of that in partnership with the BIA.

“We have to have someone in that construction team who is going to be that liaison, so I’m assuming that’s all going to be part of our pre-qualifying bid package.

“We want the bid winner to understand that from the get-go, so this is one of the best managed projects we’ve ever had because that’s a commitment we made to the business community.”

Cement factor

Simpson said water availability shouldn’t be the issue of an interruption as we should be able to manage that around operations. It’s more the pouring and curing of cement in and around the sidewalks.

Coun. Coleman wanted to know if there could be temporary board walks over the sidewalks to get in and out of the businesses.

Coombs explained the City has become creative in these kinds of project. “Typically we pour concert early in the morning or when the businesses aren’t open, and we install boardwalks so customers can get in an out of the businesses.”