Following concerns raised by residents of Île-des-Chênes (IDC) over the bump-outs being built along the community’s Main Street, changes are underway.
Ritchot Mayor Chris Ewen says that the construction crew was not to blame for the wide girth of the two finished bump-outs which left only ten feet, eight inches of roadway from curb to curb. They were simply following the blueprints.
Since that time, he adds, conversations took place between the construction company, the RM’s public works department, and an engineering team. They concluded that a wider space would be preferable to accommodate larger vehicles.
The recently installed concrete curbing was removed and rebuilt, now leaving a vehicle gap of 12 feet where the bump-outs are located.
“As background, most residential lanes are between 10 and 11 feet,” says Ewen. “Most highway lanes are 12 feet. Main Street, between the curb-outs and the boulevard will be [at least] 12 feet.”
The original concept plans for the Main Streets in IDC, St. Adolphe, and Ste. Agathe were created back in 2017. At that time, Ewen says that a public open house was held in order to glean feedback from Ritchot residents.
“Safety was the primary focus of this reconstruction with the addition of new sidewalks, bike lanes, and multiple crosswalks,” Ewen says of the IDC street renewal. “This was something the community had been asking for during the consultation process. This includes multiple bump-outs along Main Street which are designed to reduce traffic to one lane so pedestrians only need to cross one lane, not two.”
Likewise, the conceptual drawings for the Main Street renewals in St. Adolphe and Ste. Agathe also include bump-outs with crosswalks. As well, there is potential for the use of roundabouts, or traffic circles, in both of those communities.
Like IDC, St. Adolphe has a bike lane drawn into the design which will follow traffic along the street. In Ste. Agathe, bike traffic will be managed by a nearby multiuse path.
It’s been nearly three months since construction of IDC’s Main Street began. Ewen says that residents can expect project completion sometime around the end of summer.
For business owners located along Main Street and patrons trying to access them, the wait already feels interminable.
The Citizen interviewed the owner of the Île-des-Chênes Convenience Store. At the time of this writing, IDC Main Street was completely blocked to public vehicular traffic in both directions. The only way for patrons to reach them was on foot.
The owner says that the street has been fully closed like this several times throughout the construction period.
She says all the businesses along Main were visited by someone from the RM office a week prior to the commencement of construction.
“They told everyone that their place [of business] would remain accessible,” she says, believing that the promised accessibility referred to vehicular traffic.
Even when traffic has been allowed to flow in one direction or the other, she adds that parking has been virtually impossible. The convenience store is one of the few businesses along Main with an ample parking space. Even then, she says that construction vehicles often block access to it.
Lately, there’s been days when the convenience store has seen as few as ten customers walk through their door as opposed to the constant flow of traffic they had before. Their sales have dropped by more than 50 percent over the past three months.
In her opinion, the RM could have made things better in two ways. Firstly, she feels that businesses along Main should have been invited to a meeting prior to construction to discuss ways to minimize the impact on them.
Secondly, she adds, residents should have had another opportunity to speak to the design since much has changed in the community in the past seven years.
Further down the street, The Citizen spoke to a staff person at a service-related business. They requested anonymity but had much to say about the difficulties they’ve faced since construction began.
Confusion and poor communication, she says, has been the norm. At times, one-way traffic that was supposed to be open to the public has been inexplicably closed.
“We anticipated that [traffic] would always be accommodated, that there would at least be traffic on one side at all times,” she says. “[But] things change from day to day, hour to hour, morning to night. And there’s no signage, no one communicating.”
While parking has been difficult for their clients to locate, it’s been as difficult for staff who have to hope they’ll find parking spaces on Dumaine or Lacroix for the day.
As for the two bump-outs that had to be deconstructed and rebuilt, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will be responsible for that cost.
Along the street, while on his break, one construction worker offered The Citizen an educated guess on what the costs would come to. Around $15,000, he said, for each bump-out.
Rather than posting comments and questions on social media, residents are encouraged to reach out directly to the RM or contact Mayor Ewen at 204-803-1447 or mayor@ritchot.com.
