City staff to attend Minnow Lake meeting to talk 2nd Avenue

More discussion on the stalled Second Avenue road project will take place Aug. 14 in Minnow Lake.

A release from the Community Action Network said the meeting begins at 7 p.m., and “has been arranged by the to give residents of the area and other interested citizens the opportunity to learn more about the planning process involved regarding the reconstruction of Second Avenue ...”

The CAN has prepared a list of 17 questions for city staff about the $5.7 million project, which was delayed until 2015 after two residents in the area wrote letters of concern to the Ministry of the Environment.

One letter expressed concern about increased stormwater runoff that would be created by widening Second Avenue to five lanes from Donna Drive to Scarlett Avenue. The second letter argued the wider road would increase vehicle emissions.

Provincial rules automatically halt such projects when they receive such letters, which were sent in May. The municipality has to formally respond to the complaints, after which the MOE rules whether the concerns have merit. The length of that process killed the project for the 2014 construction season.

Work was to begin this spring to widen the road, fix the entrance to the Civic Cemetery and dog park, and put in a traffic light at the strip mall. After initial objections from the CAN, the project was revised to include raised bike lanes along both sides of Second Avenue.

That required moving up planned drainage work, so existing ditches could become paved shoulders, allowing for the bike lanes to connect all the way from Donna Drive to Bancroft Avenue. The revisions delayed the start of the project, and added $800,000 to the original $4.9-million cost.