EDMONTON – Downtown commuters take note: Jasper Avenue will be closed to traffic between 100th Street and 102nd Street this weekend.
The closure is scheduled to take place from 7 p.m. Friday night to 6 a.m. Monday morning.
“In that time we’ll get traffic moved over to the north side, which involves a significant amount of work with traffic signals, moving all the concrete barriers, putting in signage…so there’s a fair amount of work involved,” explains Nathan Stelmach, Construction Project Manager with the city’s transportation department.
Crews will then begin construction on the south side of the Avenue. The work will include leakage repairs to Central LRT Station, total road reconstruction and repair, as well as the addition of a wider sidewalk, new trees, benches, poster kiosks, traffic signals and decorative streetlights.
The upgrades, which began last April, are set to be completed in October.
“ETS is scheduled to come back on Jasper Ave on October 31st,” says Stelmach, “at that time or slightly before we’re hoping to have the Avenue open to traffic.”
Jim Taylor, the executive director of the Downtown Business Association, says that the plan over the next six years will be to give the same treatment to all of Jasper Ave from 97th Street to 111th Street. He stresses that the work on the rest of the strip won’t be as time-intensive as it has been for the two blocks currently under construction.
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“This was a much more major undertaking because they were re-doing the roof of the LRT station. As soon as they get beyond 102 Street, there is no LRT station or anything, so then it’s just street work, it’s just on top. So it’ll go much, much faster than this one.” Taylor says.
While he admits that the closure has caused some businesses to suffer, he believes it’s a short-term pain for a long-term gain.
“This is going to be the nicest street in Edmonton. It’s going to be the newest major municipal boulevard in Canada when it’s finished,” Taylor says. “And these businesses that suffered in the last year are going to be the ones that front on this street. So you know, there will be a reward.”
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