The City of Nelson has awarded the contract for the first phase of its Stores to Shores Project to Maglio Installations for just over $2.7 million. Phase 1 runs from IODE Park to the intersection of Hall and Lake Streets.
Work will start in May and be completed by October, according to city manager Kevin Cormack. He said the contract price is within the budget the city had set for the project.
This phase of the project includes the following work:
New landscaping in IODE Park.
Landscaping, lighting improvements and street furniture for the entire three blocks.
Creation of a flexible plaza in the 500 block Hall that would sometimes be parking and sometimes a pedestrian area.
Bump-outs in the Hall-Vernon intersection to improve pedestrian safety.
A new entrance to the community complex that lines up with Lake Street.
Renewal of sewer, water, hydro, paving, and sidewalk infrastructure throughout.
The sewer, water, hydro, and paving changes, which will account for about two-thirds of the project budget, would have had to be done soon in any event, Cormack said.
The other third will come from a combination of an annual payment of $400,000 in federal government gas tax revenue that the city has been saving for a few years, and the income from rental of offices in the city hall building on Ward Street.
Cormack said the steep hill on the 300 block Hall will remain two-way, and that the peripheral traffic flow changes that made the news during the planning stages may be implemented temporarily on an experimental basis when the project needs detours during construction.