Shovels will be hitting the ground in early May for Phase 1 of Innisfail's Main Street reconstruction, but shop owners are worried about the effects the construction will have on their business.
"I'm sure it will have negative effects," said Garth Ingham, owner of Main Street-based Geo T. Ingham and Sons Ltd.
Town council passed a motion to put out the tender for the $3.4 million Phase 1 project during its Feb. 13 meeting. The entire three-phase project, expected to be completed 2014, will cost about $8 million.
"It's a large-scale project," said Craig Teal, the town's director of planning and development.
Phase 1 will see the street and sidewalks ripped up on Main Street between 53 St. and 49 Ave. Teal said water, sanitary sewer and storm lines will be replaced and new connections made to the buildings. The aesthetics of Main Street will undergo a facelift since the street will be torn up anyways.
"The opportunity to do this doesn't come up once every two years or so," Teal said, continuing it's a once in 25-year opportunity to redo Main Street.
Phase 1 carries an estimated cost of $3,415,000. About $2 million is being taken from the water/wastewater reserve funds and the rest is from the province's 2012 Municipal Sustainability Initiative funding program.
About $600,000 of the $3.4 million is going to the aesthetic upgrades, things like new benches, lampposts, trees and trash cans.
During the Feb. 13 meeting council was presented the final plan, which went through an extensive public consultation process last year. From the process changes were made incorporating public suggestions, including reducing the number of trees that will line the street.
Teal told council that instead of going with one overall theme of the three suggested, elements were drawn from all three different themes to achieve the final plan.
Construction is estimated to take nearly five months to finish.
"This will take about 18 weeks to complete," Teal said. During that time the parts of Main Street under construction will be closed to vehicular traffic.
"We are going to be maintaining pedestrian access," Teal said, adding access will be to the storefronts.
The design calls for 10-foot wide sidewalks. Teal said this allows for "clutter space" where the street furniture and trees can fit while still leaving ample walking room.
Parking on Main Street will remain similar to the current design.
"We've maintained parallel parking on both sides of the street," Teal said.
Innisfail mayor Jim Romane said discussions about sign design and other details will be ongoing.
"Lots of room Ö for input," Romane said. "Those kinds of discussions will be happening throughout this process."
The motion to put the project out for tender was passed unanimously by council. Administration is hoping to return to the March 26 meeting so council can select the successful bid.
Romane noted many businesses will be affected by the construction.
"We got our work cut out for us," he said.
Other business owners on Main Street that were interviewed echoed Ingham's concern about the potential negative impacts on their businesses.
"I think we're all worried that it's going to be a long haul," said Carol Smith, owner of Studio Arts.
Smith said restricting vehicle access would "be tough on people shopping" and suggested signs could go up indicating to out-of-town shoppers where the Main Street stores were.
"We get a lot of walk-in traffic from tourists," Smith said.
She thought once the upgrades are complete the street will look nice.
"I think when it's done it'll be good," she said.
Ingham thought the proposed changes weren't necessarily the best options.
"It's not going to work," he said of putting in things like wider sidewalks and trees. "We need more parking on Main Street."
Ingham said he appreciates the necessity of replacing the water and sewer lines but thought the street should be put back the way it currently is after construction.
Angie Teertstra, of the recently-opened This and That, said her biggest concern is maintaining access to the businesses. She liked the plan of having pedestrian walkways to the storefronts.
"That's excellent," Teerstra said. She said she hoped town council took local businesses into consideration.
This summer's project is Phase 1 of a three-phase process. Teal said Phase 2 will hopefully be underway in 2013, with Phase 3 to follow in 2014.
