Tuesday 28 June 2016

City prepares for sidewalk expansion and repair

For the Lakeland Regional.

Construction on sidewalks is about to begin.
File Photo
 
The city’s assessment of its sidewalks and trails is complete and the concrete is ready to flow.

Cold Lake City Council is going ahead with a plan to construct, repair and expand a number of sidewalks in the community.

According to Infrastructure Services general manager Azam Khan, currently there are large portions of the city’s roads that are lacking a proper sidewalk or trail for pedestrians. He cited a number of places along 1 Ave. that need work done as an example.

The city will be adding a sidewalk along 1 Ave. from 23 St. to 25 St. In addition, a second sidewalk will be constructed between 9 Ave. and 12 Ave. along 16 St. and a third sidewalk will be laid out along 53 Ave. connecting 55 St. to 56 St.

Also included in the project’s funding are plans to build a few new walking trails, specifically connecting Beach Ave. to Willow Crescent, and Meadow Way to the Millennium Trail. A third trail being planned, the Palm Creek Trail, which will run from 55 to 52 Ave., is budgeted under the Meadows Storm Water Project.

Council also heard that a trail being planned along 16 Ave. would cost considerably more than what was allocated, and that the city would need to purchase a piece of land along the proposed route to be able to proceed.

Consequentially, that expansion was taken back to administration for further research.

City council originally budgeted $200,000 for trail and sidewalk construction. Khan estimated that the needed work would cost $208,230.

Mayor Craig Copeland cautioned that the estimated costs were overshooting expenses to prevent any nasty surprises down the road.

“We’re going to go to tender and hopefully the costs come in at under $200,000,” noted Copeland. “It’ll be a great opportunity for local contractors. There are some great locations that are going to open up some areas of Cold Lake where people can walk their dog.”

Khan added that future projects will include making sure is a sidewalk or trail on at east one side of all roads, as well as connecting the city’s trail networks with its many parks. Ensuring connections between trails, sidewalks and bus stops is also a priority going forward.

“There isn’t enough money in the budget this year, but we’ll look at this for 2017,” commented Khan.

Construction is expected to begin as soon as the tenders are completed and should be finished in the fall.
 

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