LAC LA BICHE - Lac La Biche County council members say they have ben have been receiving angry and profanity-filled phone calls from opponents of the Main Street revitalization plan.
The project which will enter the second of three phases of upgrades this spring is set to completely makeover the community’s downtown core while upgrades are made to underground utility infrastructure. The surface upgrades will include new paving and sidewalks, a one-way traffic flow northbound on 101 Street, along with streetscape features like upgrades to the decorative tree stands, benches, new lampposts with attached speakers and extended sidewalk ‘bulbouts’ at main intersections and pedestrian crossings. The overall project, which includes the first of three phases that was already completed on the western portion of 101 Avenue, is about $16.5 million. While surveys, community open houses and other forms of public engagement over the last two years has drawn positive comments from residents towards the project, a recent rise in opposition has flared from some members of the Lac La Biche business community. A petition signed by some residents and presented to council two weeks ago argues that the new plans will reduce traffic flow, reduce the amount of parking stalls, make intersections difficult to navigate and create opportunities for instances of loitering on the sidewalks.
In recent days, the way that some of those opposing views have been communicated have caused distress for local council members.
Plamondon-area councillor Colette Borgun has fielded calls from residents who are opposed to the streetscape plan — which comes with an approximate $16 million price tag. She has found the language and anger from residents phoning her to be …“really hard to handle”.
“I listened and I said I would turn to my colleagues. I think I would like to say to everyone out there that you know we all may not agree on some things and we all have a right to express our opinions. But in this world we’re living in today, I would just ask that everyone respect and be kind to one another,” she said, hopefully directing her comment to anyone thinking of expressing their opinions.
While she didn’t detail specifics of the calls, fellow county councillor Lorin Tkachuk said that if the nature of the calls were similar to what he has received, it is completely unacceptable.
“I received the same call from the same resident on the Main Street project. If he spoke to councillor Borgun in any way, shape or form close to how he spoke to me, I don’t think that’s appropriate,” Tkachuk said.
Finding solutions
Mayor Paul Reutov says the concerns have also reached him. He, in turn, has reached out to the project’s engineering firm in the hopes of getting more answers to respond to any continuing calls and concerns.
“Once we have that, we will be sharing that with the community in detail. Hopefully, we can address some of these concerns,” he said. “Some of these phone calls are unwarranted I think….we just need to get that information out to the public as soon as possible.”
The designs and construction plans have seen the hired engineering company work in tandem with council routinely to continue the construction of the project which will see the next phase focus on the south end of Main Street from 103 Street to 102 Street. Construction is slated to begin this spring.
Engage respectfully
Although the phone calls are concerning, ultimately, the project — which has been approved by the current council — is about developing the community and making the downtown core safer—especially with the ‘bulb-outs’ said councillor Charlyn Moore.
“It is to make pedestrian crossing safer; it’s to make our community more inviting,” she said, adopting her long-standing defence that the changes will make the area look better and attract more attention. “Somebody said to me, ‘Well we need drivability’. Well, I’ll tell you, the problem with drivability is they drive right by. We need to make sure that people are enjoying our area.”
The tone of some of the opposition to the plan really is unacceptable, said Moore, stressing that residents need to find out more about the project before being led by information or opinions from others that may not be accurate.
“Just be kind and get out there and learn exactly what we’re doing, be a part of the process.”
The municipality’s website has pages of information and details about the plan. Stories on the project dating back to early 2019 can also be found at www.lakelandtoday.ca
More details on the construction start times and timeframes for the work will be released in the coming weeks.
