The Crosswalk waiting game

The Posts are up and the fencing remains as work continues on
the remediation work on the Third Street Crosswalk at Second Avenue West

The process of redevelopment of the City's crosswalks along Second Avenue West is seemingly going to be on a longer,  rather than a shorter timeline ... with the pace of the work so far coming in spurts of activity, combined with passages of abandonment.

The crosswalk location currently under replacement is the one at the Canada Post Building, which saw some preliminary work take place earlier this month.

However things seem to have slowed a bit there, as for much of the last few weeks the fencing surrounding both new posts is as far as the project seems to have progressed.

The slow pace of the work and the condition of the sidewalk was taken note of by one of our readers yesterday,  who left a comment on our story about the Redesign Rupert workshop of last week.

The commentary noting how the sidewalk is one of the busiest crossing points in the city, and asking a few questions related to the state of the sidewalk and the impact it may be having on those who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices.

A look at the crosswalk location at Third Street and Second Ave West
where work continues on new signalling 

We reached out to the City of Prince Rupert's communication department yesterday to try and find some kind of an update on the project, with Communications Manager Veronika Stewart providing a few comments towards the topic.

Ms. Stewart first noted that the work is not within the City of Prince Rupert's jurisdiction, as it is taking place on the Ministry of Highways right of way along Second Avenue West.

She was able to outline that the city understands that the contractor is awaiting a break in the weather to allow for the work to continue. Once it does and the work is completed,  the curb letdowns will then be installed in the locations in question.

Until they do return to the site to carry on with their work, those crossing the road will seemingly have to continue to edge their way around the fenced off corners, while watching for traffic at the busy intersection.

The redo of the crosswalk is one of a number of improvement projects that the Ministry has taken on over the course of the year along the Second Avenue corridor and on McBride Street.

The work was first announced in September of last year, with an ambitious list of items on the to do list.

When it comes to the crosswalk at the Post Office, it is somewhat puzzling that the Ministry did not choose to go with a full traffic light at that location.

As anyone who has been waiting in the line coming up from the mall, or attempting to turn left off of Second Avenue West could advise, the intersection in question has at times been one of the more dangerous of crossing points in the downtown area.

Beyond that, a traffic light would more than likely make for the highlight of the year for the Prince Rupert and Port Edward Transit buses that attempt to make the left hand turn off of Third Street to the Ocean Centre each day, a process that can be a daunting adventure at times.

To review some of our past notes on the ongoing infrastructure work in the city see our archive page here.


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