It could have stayed in place of another two weeks, but following concerns brought up by a group of local business representatives, the Mission: Main Street test is over.
Large, concrete, yellow barriers have been outlining potential sidewalk upgrades at the 101 Street and Main Street for the last two weeks — to the dismay of many local merchants. Dubbed Mission: Main Street, a throw to the Mission: Impossible movie theme, the setup proved to be an impossible inconvenience to many downtown business owners.
At the Lac La Biche County Council meeting on Tuesday, two dozen of those business representatives took over the gallery seating area. Representatives of the group presented their concerns to council members and municipal administrators.
One of the main points of contention, said IGA grocery store produce manager Carl Stafford, was how much room the extended sidewalk intersection areas would take up — and take away from the motoring public.
"The biggest hurdle we have always had is parking," said Stafford, speaking on behalf of his employers Willie and Mo Abougouche.
He explained that engineered drawings he has seen for the proposed sidewalk upgrades would reduce overall parking availability by more than 100 stalls downtown.
The proposed Mission:Main Street test area will be taken down Tuesday night, just hours after a group of local business representatives told councillors they didn’t like the plan.
"To lose more than100 stalls is not something businesses should have to expect," he said.
According to the map provided by Lac La Biche County staff, and shown to business owners along the Main Street, several areas of the downtown thoroughfare would see reduced parking availability due to proposed 'bulb-outs' — widened areas of the sidewalks — that could offer areas for pedestrians to sit or converge or to cross the busy roadway more safely. The map indicates that the parking stalls in front of several current businesses on intersections of Main Street would be the most affected.
"The denture clinic would have no parking stalls anymore, NAPA would now have zero stalls," said Stafford, explaining the irony of creating the modernized streetscape to create more interest in the downtown business sector might actually send customers away. "These businesses will just sit and watch their customers go driving by — maybe out of town all together — because there's nowhere to park."
Stafford said when he saw the story in the Lac La Biche POST that the downtown road test might be extended for two more weeks, he wanted councillors to hear his thoughts and concerns — and those of other business people.
A big concern was the affect on the bottom line of an already challenged local economy.
In the two weeks since the Mission:Main Street test was set up — bringing in the barricades that not only reduce parking, but also create frustration and congestion for traffic — Stafford says his employer has seen a significant decrease in business.
"IGA has lost thousands of dollars a day since the barricades went up," he told council with more than two dozen local business representatives sitting behind him and Khalid Abougouche, the grandson of local grocery store's founding owner Kelly Abougouche sitting beside him.
"We love to see Lac La Biche have a nice facelift," Abougouche told council, "but this is hurting businesses more than its benefiting."
More changes to come
Although councillors voted to end the test and remove the blocked-out areas, they cautioned residents about future developments associated with the Mission:Main Street campagn that would affect their businesses and the local economy
Lac La Biche councillor Lorin Tkachuk, one of two representatives on council elected by hamlet of Lac La Biche voters, said he was pleased to see the outpouring of comments over the test. He would have liked to have seen more people involved when the idea was first pitched several months ago at a series of public engagements — but at least there is feedback, he said.
"In the future, I'd like to see us working together at the front, rather than the back end of a project," he said, explaining that the sidewalk upgrades, new lighting, changes to parking, possible bench seating and even free wifi hubs were all just the dressing of a downtown water and sewer line replacement project that is expected to cost in excess of $11 million over the next two years.
The replacement of old cast-iron underground pipes will force municipal crews and contractors to rip up the Main Street pavement, disrupting business along the busy downtown stretch from the intersection at 100 Street to 105 Street.
Councillor Sterling Johnson said the disruption to service will be something all businesses will have to deal with — new sidewalk plans or not. And whether or not the business community likes the idea of new sidewalks, they will have to find a creative and forward-thinking way to bring business to their doors during the inevitable disruption.
"We are hearing you loud and clear," he said about the intersection changes. "But your businesses will suffer when the water and sewer crews come in. So what do you want to do? We definitely have to get people into your stores during the downtown construction and beyond."
Businesses and area residents will continue to have a say in what those changes could look like , as the public engagement and feedback portion of the Mission: Main Street campaign will continue even if the test area is gone.
Feedback LINK
The municipality has an online feedback avenue that can be found here.
And at least one councillor says that the avenue for hearing feedback on their ideas — even if it's negative is something elected officials always need have in their inventory. She likes that the public have access to council and their ideas.
"People are wanting change and are asking for change. I'm very proud of us (council) in our desire to have opinions brought back to the public," she said.
County planning manager Clayton Kittlitz said there will still be opportunities for the public to provide feedback on the options to improve the downtown in conjunction with the planned pipeline replacement.
Online feedback is expected to be collected until November 8. County planners will also explore other options to engage the public in the coming weeks, perhaps using displays and information tables at the Bold Center and with a dedicated email contact for the public to offer suggestions.
