With the expectation of an early spring, the City of Lethbridge is hoping to get to work on its two major construction projects for this year by the end of the month.
The first capital improvement project will see the continuation of construction on 3rd Ave. South, which began last summer.
“Probably in a week or two we’ll be starting up again and moving into different blocks and doing the same thing we did here: taking a four-lane roadway, down to a three-lane roadway,” said Darwin Juell, the transportation manager for the city.
“And increasing the sidewalk widths, beautifying it, adding a lot of pedestrian features,” he said.
The city’s other construction endeavor will be taking place in a residential area.
“The second project is Metis Trail, south of Whoop Up Drive. We’re expanding that arterial road, south of Copperwood’s second entrance to the south, to Temple Blvd., even farther south to new Copperwood access,” Juell explained.
“We’re tying that in to a feature Copperwood access were the developer is building a new road,” he said.
Juell says they’ll be working in phases in order to minimize disruption to residents, and before these big projects were approved, city council received feedback from stakeholders.
“Even as part of both our capital improvement process and our operating budget process, there’s a big public consultation piece,” Juell said.
Although, the construction may be inconvenient, one downtown business owner says the short-term pains are worth the long-term gains.
“As much as I don’t like construction during a busy time — because spring and summer’s going to be busier for us outdoors, it is a little bit difficult — but at the end, the end goal of the city is great,” said Ram Khanal, the owner of the Telegraph Taphouse.
In addition to the construction projects, the city is currently filling in potholes and asking residents to call 311 to report them.
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