Owen Sound City Hall. (Photo by Claire McCormack. July 2024)
Owen Sound is deferring the reconstruction of 4th Avenue West between 15th and 20th Streets until next year.
Council voted down a committee recommendation at its meeting Monday night to pursue a design option that integrates a multi-use path to the reconstruction of 4th Avenue West, and then decided to defer the project entirely.
The city has more than 9.1-million allocated in its multi-year capital plan for the work. There’s $5.4-million set aside for the first phase, between 15th and 17th Streets West. And Owen Sound’s capital plan also includes $3.7-million in 2027 for the second phase of 4th Avenue West reconstruction, from 17th to 20th Streets West.
The project will include the replacement of underground infrastructure such as sewer pipes, as well as sidewalks and the asphalt road surface.
Several design options were laid out before the operations committee: rebuilding the status quo, adding a bike lane or installing a new multi-use path.
While there are high-level budget numbers included in Owen Sound’s multi-year spending plan, the design options brought before council and committee lacked cost estimates for each. A staff report by the city’s Director of Public Works and Engineering Lara Widdifield says most of the project’s expected cost is tied to underground utility replacements, and the cost should not “differ significantly” due to above ground design.
Coun. Melanine Middlebro’: “My struggle is with the costing. Without having more information it’s hard to justify one option over another … in the report, one is more expensive, the other isn’t. But we don’t actually have a costing here.”
Deputy Mayor Scott Greig expressed concern about the proposed road width (seven metres) in the preferred design option.
“Owen Sound gets snow. Our roadways get narrow,” Greig says.
Coun. Jon Farmer: “Staff did not just make up the number…that’s enough space. The snow will not pile up in the lane of traffic, because this design also incorporates a boulevard.”
Council also voted down a motion from Farmer to have staff examine a new design option for consideration when council revisits the project next year: creating a northbound, one way corridor on 4th Avenue West between 16th and 19th Streets West.