The City of Nelson is extending Cedar Street north to Lakeside Drive as a detour route to be used while part of the 100 block Hall Street (the block that crosses the CPR tracks) is closed for six weeks starting in about two weeks.
The closure of that half block of Hall Street is to allow new storm and sanitary sewer pipes to be placed under the CPR tracks.
“We are going to be ramming some large metal pipes under the rails and the new storm sewer and sanitary sewer will go through those,” said the city’s Colin Innes.
The lakeshore outfall for the new storm sewer system, and some of the pipes leading to it, were placed in the area adjacent to the Prestige over the past few months.
During the upcoming construction, access to the businesses on the south end of the 100 block Hall will continue but the street will be a cul-de-sac with access only from Front St.
Replacing this aging sewer infrastructure and increasing its size to control the flooding that periodically happens at Hall and Front streets is the main reason, according to the city, for the work being done on the north end of Hall Street.
But there is above ground work to be done as well, including a lakeshore park in the area beside the Prestige and new landscaping and a plaza in the area of the gazebo. All of this is expected to be finished by the end of the summer.
The detour extension of Cedar Street will not be paved but surfaced with a recycled asphalt product because of the possibility of future underground utility work that might be needed if the vacant property adjacent to the street were ever developed, Innes said.
According to the city, the total budget for this phase of the Hall Street project (from Lake Street to the waterfront), is $6,827,000. Two-thirds of that is being funded by an infrastructure grant from the federal government’s gas tax fund. The other third will be paid by the city out of its utility reserves that had been set aside for the upgrades of aging sewer and water systems.
Nelson city hall reveals plans for lower Hall Street (December 2016)
Nelson’s Hall Street phase two construction starts this summer (April 2017)
Nelson’s Hall Street plan finalized (April 2017)
