Kamloops City Council is poised to make a decision on the future of the Lansdowne Street multi-use pathway tomorrow afternoon, Dec. 5.

Capital Projects Manager Matt Kachel says if the multi-use pathway is to go ahead, it would make sense to do it in conjunction with a planned sewer main replacement along Lansdowne Street, which is set to get underway in the spring.

“The hardest part of this project is actually the utility work, so adding in the multi-use path or the active transportation component will just draw the length that it takes us to build but it shouldn’t be any more difficult,” Kachel told Radio NL.

“We’ll just have more time doing construction in that area. It’ll just draw things out for us.”

Kachel says the sewer work – between 1st Avenue and 7th Avenue – is needed to support the growth and densification of the downtown core. Crews are set to begin near Riverside Park and with their way east one block at a time.

“It is fully funded, and we have to put it in to meet the demand so that is going to happen one way or another,” Kachel said.

“The transportation team saw the opportunity here with the scale of construction to complete a link on their active transportation network because were going to have everything apart anyway. So if we were going to do it, now is the time to include a project that is within the same area.”

If the multi-use pathway is deferred Tuesday, Kachel thinks the project may have to be moved to another location, noting it doesn’t make sense to tear up Lansdowne Street once again.

“It wouldn’t make sense, at least in the next few years, because putting the multi-use pathway is going change the curb line and the profile of the road so we only want to do that once and then get the most out of that asphalt surface,” Kachel said.

“I think it might go to another location but that would be a question for my colleague [Transportation Manager] Purvez [Irani].”

Irani told Radio NL there is a reason why his department is hoping to build the multi-use pathway on Lansdowne Street instead of St. Paul Street, where there is some existing bike infrastructure that connects the City’s West End to the Valleyview area.

“When you are riding a bike or even if you are walking, you want the most direct path to your destination,” Irani said. “Lansdowne, we felt was a good option because A) it connected you directly to the transit exchange and then you don’t have to go and make a turn anywhere else and then turn back to get to Riverside Park. This is a direct connection.”

Irani says the proposed Lansdowne pathway is the final portion of the Kamloops North-South Active Transportation corridor, which connects Aberdeen to Westsyde. The most recent stretch of that corridor – the Sixth Avenue Bike Lane – officially opened in early October.

“We could look at Seymour Street as an option [for this new pathway] but there is parking both sides so to fit that in, one side of parking would have to be go,” Irani added. “St. Paul also has parking on both sides, that is why its a shared route right now because there is not enough space to put in a bike facility.”

“I think you can’t just depend on one east-west route, you have to have at least two and Lansdowne would be that direct east-west route in my opinion.”

Irani also told council in October that the proposed Lansdowne pathway would mean four of the 62 existing on-street parking stalls – in front of Drake Cremation & Funeral Services’ and Rays Lock and Key – would be removed. He said the city reached out to both those businesses and neither were concerned about losing the spots.

“Basically where you’re seeing the sidewalk today, that would be removed, and a new asphalt multi-use pathway would be put [there],” Irani said.

“By reducing the lane, we could also introduce a new curb and some landscaping features.”

City staff are recommending that the project be approved Tuesday citing the results of an online survey and an open house that showed that Kamloopsians are “generally supportive of the project.”

“Based on the discussions from the open house and the open feedback survey questions, the most common public concerns with the proposed Lansdowne multi-use pathway are the reduction in travel lane width, traffic congestions, the removal of four parking spaces, and disruptions due to construction,” Sam Pollock, the City’s Transportation Engineer – Projects and Alternative Modes said in a report to council.

“The most common public points of support were increased active transportation connectivity, improved walkability, and improved safety.”

While a number of councillors said they were in support of the project in late October, they weren’t prepared to make a decision until more community consultation was conducted.

For more on the project, go here.