Sidewalk in Flesherton will be expanded
Council awarded the contract for Alice Street re-construction to MacDonnell Excavation for $925,520.90.
A controlled intersection is proposed for Alice and Campbell, with a three-way stop.
The bid came in under budget. The construction will go from July to Sept. 6, and there will be an open meeting at the Kinplex, but the date has not yet been set.
Total costs including engineering are about $1.14 million.
CONNECTING LINK
A retaining wall and a new sidewalk with handrail will be added on the east side of Hwy. 10 north of the lights.
Council approved adding 200 metres of sidewalk between Margaret and Collingwood streets and the related work, which was not part of the original Hwy. 10 project. The cost is $219,345.
Funding will be taken from the sidewalk fund and other money from OCIF (Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund).
The location is opposite the electrical business on Hwy. 10. There is room behind the hydro poles for the work, council heard. A hedge which is encroaching on municipal land is to be removed. It will be replaced as part of the project on the homeowner’s property. Land owners know about the proposed work.
Houses have access from the street behind and from a road allowance, said staff member Alysha Milliner.
PEDESTRIAN ACCESS
Coun. Nadia Dubyk spoke to support adding the sidewalk to help make the village more “walkable”.
The timeline is to finish by the end of May for the original project, but adding this work will extend the timeline.
Mayor Paul McQueen opposed the idea, saying there was already a continuous sidewalk on the other side of the street. He said there are streets in Grey Highlands with sidewalks that need repairs, or with no sidewalks.
The 45 metres of previously existing sidewalk are already in the budget, but that is not included in the estimate for the new work.
If the 45 metres was not replaced, that would be a savings of $10,000, staff said in answer to a question from the mayor.
Staff member Chris Cornfield said that Grey Highlands standards for new development call for sidewalk on both sides on arterial roads.
Because of the steep slope which ends at the curb, there’s no flat area for pedestrians in the area, the report noted. The retaining wall work would lead to a less steep slope and more stability.
Coun. Dan Wickens said that the time to do the work is now, during the ongoing project.
Coun. Dubyk said that it is a safety issue and is critical. With the municipality having work done already, she said, it’s best to do it properly and move on.
M.T. Fernandes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Flesherton Advance
