The opportunity for Lac La Biche motorists and pedestrians to maneuver pylons and paint on area roads and sidewalks to get a feel for new downtown re-design plans won’t be going ahead as expected.
Timeframes for approvals from the provincial Alberta Transportation department couldn’t be met, so a three-week trial that was set to start this week to see where planned curb, sidewalk and driving lane configurations will go has hit a roadblock.
The trial would have seen boxes, pylons, paint and signage set up to inform residents how road and sidewalk widths would change with the new downtown revitalization plan.
“It was meant to garner feedback and to give people an idea of the intent of what it will mean,” said Lac La Biche County's senior manager of planning and development Clayton Kittlitz.
Initial plans for the project to makeover the downtown core of the Lac La Biche and Plamondon hamlets, coined Mission Main Street, would see wider sidewalks, fewer parking stalls along downtown side-streets, the inclusion of some parallel parking areas, “bulb-outs” on sidewalks at intersections and pedestrian crossings, as well as new lighting and areas for bench seating. With a re-pave of the streets and new underground utility infrastructure throughout, the total project for Lac La Biche has a price tag of more than $13 million. The project is in the municipality’s five year capital plan.
Permission for the trial is required by Alberta Transportation since both the Plamondon and Lac La Biche main streets are also designated as provincial highways.
The trial was supposed to happen this month, while pedestrian traffic in warmer weather was still steady.
“… But our window to pull this off for this year was very tight,” said Kittlit.
The provincial election in the spring was said to have slowed down the approval process.
If the trial is moved back to next spring, the whole project will be slowed, fears Lac La Biche County Mayor Omer Moghrabi.
“If we delay this to next year, they we are delaying the overall project for another year,” he said.
Kittlitz aid his department and other municipal administrators are continuing to press the government for permission this year — even if the trial period is shortened to a two-week period.
“We could cut it back to two weeks instead of three … it’s possible, but it would be tough,” he said, admitting it wouldn’t be the best result, but that his department is ready to go. “We are ready to go, but we are in a holding pattern.”
While administrators wait for a last-minute approval to squeeze in the trial for this year, they already have had some feedback from downtown business owners.
“From the sounds of it, most business owners are quite bullish and are ready to go ahead,” said Kittlitz.
