SARAH WILLIAMS

STAFF WRITER

The long-awaited pedestrian crossover in Bloomfield will soon be a reality, after council passed a motion to approve a report on the project brought forward by the Developmental Services Department. Construction of the new crossover is slated for Spring 2022.

The report provided contract award recommendation for the construction of a pedestrian crossover (PXO) on Bloomfield Main Street. The recommendation from staff is that Drew Harrison Haulage Ltd. Be awarded the contract.

Drew Harrison Haulage Ltd. was the lowest bidder in a request for tenders put out by the municipality in the amount of $125,231.00 plus HST for the construction of the PXO at the Post Office location. The contract completion date will be extended to June 1, 2022 to accommodate construction of the new crossover in the spring.

The total cost of this project will be $163,119.59, which is less than the $177,000 allocated from the capital budget for the project.

The report also provided council with an update on the recent public consultation.

Originally, staff brought forward a tender award recommendation at the October 12, 2021 council meeting for the construction of a crossover on Bloomfield Main Street. After this, members of the public expressed varying concerns about the proposed crossover. As per the report, the concerns raised focused on the layout of the new crossover compared with that of the old, the impact the new crossover would have on nearby street parking and whether or not a crossover was even warranted.

Phil Prinzen. (Jason Parks/Gazette Staff)

“A common concern raised by the public was that the PXO (crossover) was warranted due to the influx of tourists. It was felt that by constructing the PXO at the post office location, that an important community resource was being compromised to make way for a tourist driven installation,” Garret Osbourne, Project Manager, wrote. “In order to address this priority concern, staff successfully shifted the location of the proposed PXO to the Corey Street intersection. Please refer to Attachment 3. The PXO is now being proposed in the same location as the former Pinecrest Public School related PXO which eliminates the need to reconfigure the existing post office street parking layout.”

In response to this, the design of the crossover was modified for the post office location to prevent the loss of existing street parking. After the changes were made, a couple of public information sessions were held on November 8 and 10, 2021 to gather feedback from the public.

In his report, Osbourne wrote that it became evident there is strong public support for crossovers at both the town hall in Bloomfield and the post office.

“Through the public engagement process it became evident that there exists strong support for both of the proposed locations,” Osborne wrote. “Based on the feedback received from the public and an evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages associated with each of the locations, staff are recommending that the PXO (crossover) be constructed at the Post Office location with a few minor changes to the proposed design.”

Councillor Phil Prinzen praised Osbourne for bearing the brunt of the community’s frustrations with regards to this project and for doing a good job at the same time.

“I want to thank Garret for bringing this back and taking the brunt of my frustrations…and that of the community and doing a good job,” stated Prinzen.

Councillor Phil St-Jean inquired as to the use of 3D crosswalks, to which Osbourne replied that had not, as of yet, been considered.

“We will forward that to the traffic committee for their consideration,” noted Osbourne.