Two Powell River intersections will be getting upgrades to make it safer for pedestrians.
The crossroads near Henderson Park in Townsite drew concerns from the parent advisory committee at James Thomson Elementary School.
Ash Avenue and Poplar Street will be converted to an all-way stop. It will also get marked crosswalks and curb extensions to narrow the approaches.
The five-way intersection of Poplar Street, Lombardy Avenue, Aspen Avenue and Willow Avenue will be converted to a four-way layout.
Concrete barriers will be added to discourage drivers from going south on Willow plus there will be a stop sign at the base of Lombardy for westbound traffic.
Acting Mayor Cindy Elliott says not everybody will be pleased with the changes.
“I do believe that people will not like stopping at the bottom of Lombardy because we’re not used to it in our community and change can be hard. But I have no doubt that it will improve the safety of that intersection,” Elliott said.
Councillor George Doubt is satisfied with the future upgrades, noting he first heard about the concerns during a Townsite Ratepayers Association meeting.
“The streets aren’t wide there. There is that 30 kilometer an hour limit in front of the park (Henderson Park)…and the limited visibility it was hard to get a safe solution and this is one and I think that it addresses a need and it helps to keep our children safe,” Doubt said.
The upgrades are going to cost $132,000 with the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC) picking up $130,200 of the bill through its road improvement program.
The city still has to finalize the designs before any work proceeds.
Council approved amending the financial plan at its July 2 meeting to include the work.
