The Town of Osoyoos showed off plans at an open house Tuesday for a major reconstruction of 74th Avenue.
The project, estimated at $731,000, would be completed in two phases. The initial phase, to be done this fall, would improve the roadway and sidewalks between 89th Street and 85th Street.
A second phase for the block between 85th Street and Main Street is tentatively scheduled for 2016, subject to budget approval.
Currently the street has areas of gravel and dirt between the sidewalks and the travel lanes of the roadway.
The new plans call for pavement from shoulder to shoulder, said Barry Romanko, chief administrative officer of the town.
“Part of that is the aesthetics of it, but at the same time, it’s dealing with our drainage issues in that area,” said Romanko, adding that when there are major storms, gravel gets washed into the driving lanes.
“We end up having to fix that all the time,” he said.
The reconstruction will include installing appropriate drainage to handle the water.
There will also be continuity of the sidewalks along with more decorative street light standards with LED lights. There will be curb and gutter sidewalks on both sides of the street and boulevard trees with irrigation.
There are no plans to change the direction of stop signs. As exists at present, vehicles on the streets intersecting 74th Avenue will continue to have the right-of-way.
Romanko said the $731,000 figure is an estimate that includes contingencies and engineering. The actual cost won’t be known until it goes to tender. Nonetheless, this is one of the largest infrastructure projects built by the town in recent years.
None of the funding will come from the town’s general revenues, Romanko said. It is all from grant funding, community works funding and development cost charges (DCCs), which are monies collected by the town from land developers.
The street is currently a mix of residential and commercial properties, but Romanko said its entire zoning is commercial.
Redevelopment of properties on the street has been limited by the state of the economy rather than by town zoning bylaws.
“It’s a major community investment,” said Romanko. “It certainly will brighten up our downtown look and maybe lead to some investment relative to business wanting to move into that particular area. But it certainly is a project that’s needed to deal with some of the storm sewer issues that we have in that area and bringing downtown into a contemporary look.”
The open house was held from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday at the Sonora Community Centre.
The purpose of the open house was to answer people’s questions about the impacts it may have on their property in front, Romanko said.
One impact is that instead of three or four vehicles angle parking in front of a property, it will change to parallel parking.
Romanko didn’t anticipate the plan would be controversial, but if there are extensive concerns about details, it would have to go back to council for redesign or redirection.
Otherwise, he’s hoping that tender documents can go to council on June 15.
By having the work started and completed in the fall, it will avoid disruptions during the busy tourist season, he said.
The work on the second phase is being delayed in order to resolve complications with some businesses on the easternmost block, Romanko said. The consultations, however, are on the entire project.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
