Sylvan Lake held an open house last night to discuss the 50 Avenue redevelopment project.
The project will see the street between Centennial Avenue and 33 Avenue (Lakeshore Drive) completely repaved. The project will also include new sidewalks on both sides of the street.
The project is straight forward, according to Dave Kelham, project manager with the Town.
“It is just like the other projects we have done of this calibre in the past,” said Kelham.
He specifically pointed out past redevelopment projects Lakeshore Drive and in the Parallels - 46, 47, 48 and 49 Street.
He also mentioned the current redevelopment project on 48 Street.
“The project on 48 Street is very similar to what we have planned here,” Kelham said.
Kelham called the project a “redevelopment of the entire street-scape.”
He explained the changes will include adding a two-and-a-half metre path along the south side and a one-and-a-half metre sidewalk along the north side of the street.
The project will also add green space and trees along the larger pathway.
The larger sidewalks, and green areas will be built along the Town’s right-of-way.
“The green areas will make it look a bit pretty. No one wants something that is all concrete and pavement,” Kelham said.
The addition of a second sidewalk meets the town’s guidelines to have a wider walking path and a sidewalk along the streets, according to Kelham.
There will also be pedestrian crosswalks added along the street which will be completely repaved.
Kelham called the changes “fairly basic.”
The response was a little mixed, with most of those concerned livening along 50 Street.
A main concern raised during the open house was parking.
Kelham says all parking will remain, with nothing being taken away.
“I’ve heard many people concerned about being able to park infant of their house. We have planned to have all street parking remain as is.”
A few residents were concerned about the intersection at 40 Street and 50 Avenue saying the section is too narrow to allow to proper flow of traffic and parking along the street.
“It isn’t any narrower, really. It may seem that way on paper but I can assure you it meets all standards and guidelines,” said Kelham.
Though the intersection is a three-way section, with housing along the south side, it is still an intersection.
As such parking there is already prohibited in Alberta. The Alberta Driver’s Handbook states, “Do not park your vehicle:on a sidewalk or boulevard, on a crosswalk or on any part of a crosswalk or within an intersection.”
The Handbook goes on to describe an intersection as a place where “two or more roadways meet, creating a possible conflict between vehicles on those roads and with pedestrians crossing the roadways.”
The project is still along ways from being done. The designs shown at the open house Wednesday night being only preliminary mock-ups of the street.
After the open houses the comments and concerns will be reviewed and applied as applicable. And the project will change as needed.
“I can’t say when it will be done, or when construction will begin. It is still a ways off into the future,” Kelham said.
The Town is holding another open house for those who were unable to attend last night. The next showing will be Aug. 26 from 2-4 p.m. at the Municipal Government Building.
