Hello West Bank friends,

As some of you may already be aware, there will be construction along Cedar Avenue this summer.

The Cedar Sidewalk project is expected to begin in late July/early August and finish in October of 2014. The exact construction staging will be developed when the contractor is hired; however, it is the goal of the project team to limited disruption to properties during construction.  

The city plans to fully maintain one side of the Cedar Ave pedestrian zone during construction. Property owners can expect short term disruption (typically 1-3 days) to access during construction (i.e., removal of the existing infrastructure and placement of the sidewalk). During this construction period, access will be through the construction zone and a hard surface may not be present. When sidewalk concrete is placed, there will be a short period (typically 4-6 hours) when concrete is setting and traffic will not be allowed on the surface.

We believe the Cedar sidewalks project is a great improvement for the area. It is a new (and long overdue) investment and renovation of sorely outdated pedestrian walkway. It makes the sidewalk of our main commercial corridor more pedestrian friendly and adds new parking. Also, while the costs sidewalks are traditionally 100% assessable to property owners, city staff was able to procure a large grant to cover a significant chunk of the overall costs of this project, reducing the assessment costs to property owners!

Along with the sidewalk reconstruction there will also be a 4-3 lane conversion along Cedar Avenue. The 4 to 3 lane conversion is part of a long-term strategy for the area. The traffic studies for the area are consistent to show that 3 lanes can adequately carry the amount of traffic that’s there today, as well as accommodate future growth in traffic. We may also see a reduction in traffic as a side-effect of the conversion – particularly truck traffic that is just using Cedar as a freeway interchange (though that’s not something we’re counting on to justify the change.) 

Mainly: all of these changes make Cedar Ave more pedestrian and local-business friendly – and we’re very excited about that. 

At our May member meeting we’ll be talking more about Cedar Ave as a whole – the Cedar Cultural Center’s patio project, the avenue renovations and more. We’ll have representatives from the city there to answer questions you may have, and we’ll be able to show you some designs and schedules. I hope you’ll join us! (May 15th, 4:00pm)

Yours,

Jamie