A report prepared by Stantec Consulting for the city shows an example of the potential new design for the downtown area. (City of Prince Albert)

By Charlene Tebbutt

Central Ave. redesign

New Central Avenue redesign features angled parking, wider sidewalks

Mar 5, 2019 | 5:06 PM

A new design has been picked for Prince Albert’s downtown core as the city works toward a more modern look.

The Central Avenue Streetscape Development Master Plan was before city councillors at their executive committee meeting Monday night. Following a consultation process, the most popular look features angled parking on one side of the street, one lane of traffic and widened sidewalks for pedestrians, patios and events.

The design was one of four under review as the city plans to revamp Central Avenue. Craig Guidinger, director of planning and development with the city, told councillors the new design invites people to come downtown to shop, dine and stay.

“The feedback that we received really pointed towards something different in Prince Albert, something that only Central Avenue can offer, and the design that people voted on essentially supports that,” Guidinger told paNOW. “It hasn’t seen a real facelift for a number of years so this is a real opportunity for us.”

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The last major updates to the downtown area happened in the early 1980s, when the McIntosh Mall, the Gateway Mall and City Hall were constructed, according to a report before city councillors this week. As part of the new builds, new paving stones, trees with iron grates and street lights were installed.

The city is now looking to replace ageing pipes and infrastructure downtown. Wooden sidewalks constructed in 1900 were replaced in with concrete in 1905, followed by water mains in 1907. Central Avenue hasn’t been repaved in more than 20 years, and the paving stones on sidewalks are crumbling in many areas.

Potential design ideas included in the Central Avenue Streetscape Development Master Plan. (City of Prince Albert)

The approved streetscape design will be used as a guide as planning for the downtown redesign continues. Guidinger said the next steps in the plan are to meet with downtown business owners to gauge their feedback on the chosen design.

“With Commercial Shopping “Super-Centers” becoming more common, it is important that Prince Albert downtown is a unique place to visit, offering amenities that you cannot find anywhere else in the City,” the report said. “Although it takes time for this type of a transition to take place, and there are bound to be concerns raised by some members of the public, the overall goal is to attract more people downtown, and that is the intent of this plan.”

The new plan will also support the relocation of the new U of S campus and set up a “shovel ready” design that would also qualify for federal and provincial funding.

Guidinger said it will still be some time before all the pieces fall into place.

“Projects like this are very expensive so it could be a number of years before shovels actually hit the ground,” he added. “But, we’ll start the budgeting process and look for opportunities for some funding and we’ll go from there … it’ll be done in phases, it won’t all happen at one time.”

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Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt