Open House held around Princess Street upgrades

WSP held an open house in Smithers council chambers last night (Wednesday) about the Princess Street Upgrade Project.

Municipal Transportation Engineer Allan Kindrat said there were two reasons Princess Street was chosen.

“The existing sidewalk is in disrepair and so the town knows they need to replace it but we’re holding off because there’s also drainage issues.”

Of the design options presented, option three tended to be the one preferred by those who attended.

“Option three removes the on-street parking from one side of the street and gives up some of that space to a wider sidewalk or a multi-use pathway,” said Kindrat.

“Their big reasoning is they don’t see a lot of on-street parking along Princess Street, but they do see some as well as seeing the multi-use path as being the best for seniors and children in terms of safety,” said Engineer in Training Erica Haugland.

The other options included:

• sticking to the town’s primary roadway design like what’s already there,
• having separated on-street bike lakes like King Street near Muheim Elementary,
• and having the multi-use pathway without any on-street parking.

Another issue brought up at the open house was the roadway’s “natural feel” due to existing trees which Kindrat said they hope to work around instead of removing.

“On the upper side of Princess Street, there’s a number of houses that are lower than the street itself so any of the four options make it difficult in terms of grading,” he said.

Kindrat added those same houses have been prone to flooding due to water washing off the roadway.

They hope to address it by adding curbs and gutters along the roadway that connect to the town’s existing storm water system.

Tomorrow (Friday) is the deadline for submitting feedback which can be done by emailing [email protected]

Construction is currently projected to begin next year and will return to Council on October 22nd.