The lazy, hazy days of summer may mean vacations and relaxation for many of us, but work doesn’t grind to a halt at city hall.
While council hasn’t held a regular meeting since July 4, staff has been busy working on a number of projects. Here’s an update on a few of the city’s initiatives that are already underway or in the planning stages.
Front Street
Front Street is expected to reopen to traffic a tad later than anticipated.
Closed since Feb. 1 when work got underway to deconstruct a section of the Front Street parkade, crews are now in the process of rebuilding the road. The city had originally anticipated the road would reopen to traffic on Aug. 22, but it’s now aiming to have the road fully opened by Sept. 9.
“We have just met with the contractor and Front Street will open to all eastbound traffic on Sept. 1, with westbound traffic to on follow on Sept. 9,” said Roger Emanuels, the city’s manager of construction and design, in an Aug. 24 email to the Record. “Single lane alternating traffic will be in place at the CN rail bridge to accommodate the building of the foundations for the new bridge and removal of the centre column.”
While the road will soon be open to traffic, work on new sidewalks, parking, landscaping and other features related to the creation of the new Front Street Mews will follow. By demolishing the western section of the Front Street parkade and building a more pedestrian-friendly area on Front Street, the city hopes to improve connections between the downtown and the waterfront.
“They are working to get Front Street open, and then to complete the mews,” said Mark Allison, the city’s manager of strategic initiatives and sustainability. “They are planning to finish that up this fall.”
Emanuels explained that CN is replacing a section of the rail bridge crossing Front Street, which will eliminate one of the columns in the middle of the roadway.
“As such, they will be having traffic control at this location and it will be single lane alternating traffic to accommodate the construction," he said. "They expedited their work to try and get it done during the Front Street closure, but you can only rush a bridge replacement so much.”
Sapperton Park
The city will soon be embarking on a new-and-improved playground in Sapperton Park.
In June, city council approved a design concept for the playground that includes areas for toddlers and older kids. Along with swings, slides and climbing structures, the new playground will include water features and areas for nature play.
“We are about to go out to tender for the new playground construction and expect to be decommissioning the existing playground in late September, construction over the fall and winter, with the new playground coming into service in the spring of 2017,” said Dean Gibson, the city’s director of parks and recreation.
Q2Q pedestrian and cyclist crossing
An update about the proposed Q2Q crossing will be coming to council in September.
In April, council directed staff to review cost estimates for a low-level pedestrian and cyclist crossing connecting the Quayside and Queensborough neighbourhoods.
“We have been doing a costing exercise for the design concept to see how that meets our budget,” Allison said. “We expect to be reporting back to council on that in early September.”
In recent years, the city has considered a number of different options for the crossing. In April, council endorsed a low-level crossing immediately downstream of the existing rail swing bridge and directed staff to prepare a cost estimate of the concept.
