Over the course of the summer, the Town of Niverville has been busy upgrading its Main Street sidewalks, a project which began two years ago and has taken a big leap forward in 2017. The upgrades include removing the old paving stones, many of which were uneven, and adding bike racks.
“The town is happy to not have the sidewalk paving stones to trip over,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “They were posing a hazard to pedestrians and thus having this liability removed is a good thing. As to the aesthetics, the new sidewalks, along with the new bike racks, look great.”
This year’s new sidewalks are being installed on the south side of Main Street from the Niverville Credit Union to the Chicken Chef, and also from Wiens Furniture until just before Co-op. The reason for stopping short at Co-op is that the business anticipates they may build an addition soon.
“Rather than cut a new sidewalk, it was decided after speaking them to wait until they know if they are expanding or not,” says Dyck.
The remaining blocks are earmarked for sidewalk improvements in the next couple of years.
In addition to these improvements to Main Street, the walking path along the south side of Highway 311 from the railway tracks to Krahn Road has been paved and undergone extensive repairs, improving pedestrian access to Old Drovers Run, Tim Hortons, Shell, and The Highlands.
Sunset Estates, developer of The Highlands, also plans to reconstruct the walkway from St. Andrews Way to the Shell station later this summer.