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| Moving on the many infrastructure challenges that the city faces will require money and Prince Rupert City Council thinks that they have the answer to putting much of the onus of that payment on motorists who used the city's streets |
As we have heard for much of the Budget process of the last month, the city's infrastructure needs are making for the largest challenge ahead for City Council, with roads and water infrastructure concerns just the start of a lengthy list of items for the to do list. On the City's new information project Rupert Talks, the preparation for significantly large financial asks of the public is being put up for discussion, with part of this years Budget survey reminding residents of some of the big projects that are ahead.
Prince Rupert City Council began discussing how to fund those upcoming infrastructure programs at the start of the year through a number of workshops, looking at a range of approaches to get access to money to begin to chip away at their list of priorities. As we noted back in January, as well as in the follow up to the Mayor's Hays 2.0 presentation of April 2018, much of the focus for the elected members of Council is turning to the many basic elements of infrastructure that many of us perhaps have taken for granted.
Reaching their economic goals to fund the growing list of projects will come through a combination of concepts, ranging from property taxes which Council hopes to keep at current levels by way of the introduction of new user pay models. Starting with two bridge tolls in the region to be shared with the Province of BC. The first at the Galloway Rapids Bridge, while the second collection point will be set up at the McClymont Creek Bridge. The revenues generated by the two tolls will be put back into highway construction and twinning of the two bridges, as well as for an ambitious range of city street and trestle replacement projects to be revealed later this spring.Installation of four Licence plate readers (one at each end of both bridges) will provide for the hardware aspect of the new toll program, automatically recording those vehicles which cross the bridge and forwarding payment required bills to registered owners. The tolls will only be collected for those living in the Prince Rupert and Port Edward region, so as not to disrupt the valued tourism industry in the region. The tolls will be two tiered in nature, with Prince Rupert residents assessed the lower of the two levels that will be set something that will change should the District of Port Edward sign on to a new shared services agreement. Owners of commercial vehicles will also be offered a flat rate per month to help reduce the impact on their businesses.
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| Toll readers like above will be mounted on two area bridges |
Fixing of the toll rates for the two bridges will be turned over to a Mayors Select Standing Committee of Prince Rupert residents, which will meet four times a year to review how the program is working when it comes to reaching the benchmarks that the City's Financial Officer has set for the funding project. The initial rates will be for a Five dollar toll for each bridge, in each direction. The Select Committee will not meet to review the first results until the first six months have been completed, they will then consider whether raising the tolls will be required to meet the provincial-municipal mandate for road reconstruction and maintenance.
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| Pay parking is on the horizon for Downtown Prince Rupert |
On street parking in the downtown area will be turned over to the paid parking plan with all of Second and Third Avenues and adjoining side streets to be mapped off as a Paid Parking location, as will the Cow Bay area and Rushbrook Floats. Soon to be installed parking kiosks will allow motorists to punch in the number of the spot they are using and pay by their credit or debit card. All but the Rushbrook Floats will be considered free parking zones for out of town visitors to the community, with an increased bylaw enforcement staff to use portable licence plate readers to determine which vehicles are registered to out of town residents and won't require parking tickets. Rushbrook owing to its own Rushbrook Improvement zone requirements, will however collect parking fees from all who make use of that lot and the parking spaces along George Hills Way and Drydock Road. Rates while still to be finalized, are said to be leaning towards the 2 dollar per hour rate, with a flat rate of 10 dollars for all day parking from 8AM to 6 PM, evening parking on city streets will be Free Parking.
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| A city of Prince Rupert map indicates where new Paid Parking will go into effect, with parking pay kiosks to be set up in strategic locations throughout the downtown. Cow Bay and Rushbrook Floats areas |
Lester Centre and Civic Centre parking will be two prominent features of the new parking plan, with fencing going up around the parking lots to designate that they are now a Paid Parking required space. The rates of pay will vary according to the time of day, with daytime rates lower than the evenings when special events put a strain on the available spots. The Daytime rates will be set at 1 dollar an hour, while evening rates will start at 6PM and jump to Five dollars whether you stay for an hour or until 11PM. One section of the Civic Centre found adjacent to McBride Street will remain free for vehicle users at all times, allowing for short term stops of thirty minutes or less, bylaw enforcement and Civic centre staff will make sure that the free parking option is not being abused by Recreation Centre patrons. Money raised through the new parking fees will be put back into maintenance and operational costs for both municipally run facilities To ensure that the Civic Centre doesn't become a transit way for bridge toll evaders, access in and out of the facility will only be available through the Ninth Avenue entrance, with a gate controlling access for Prince Rupert Transit buses located at the Earl Mah Aquatic centre side of the facility, allowing buses and emergency vehicles to continue to pass through as they do today.
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| Paid Parking is coming to the Civic Centre |
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| Fencing will go up to make the Lester Centre lot a paid parking lot |
Should the new program of tolls and parking fees work as City Council hopes it will, the impact of the larger infrastructure projects such as the Water Filtration plant, RCMP station and new Fire Station will all be much easier to finance, providing the city with more leverage to access provincial and Federal funding that is available for such programs and to consider for others into the future. Council will be looking to hear from the public on these user pay projects and hopefully not just through agitated Facebook posts or the occasional contribution to the editorial pages of the weekly paper. Be watching the Rupert Talks section of the City's website for a soon to be introduced survey from the City seeking your thoughts on the two options to be introduced and a chance to show Council how you would prioritize the list of the major projects that will need to be addressed in the very near future.
Update: And with the passing of the Noon Hour and the official end of the foolery of the first day of April, we trust that our loyal readership were not taken in by our mischief making of the morning.\
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming!
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