Mayor of Bonnyville Gene Sobolewski hosted what he hoped would be the “first of many” public discussions at the Shaw House last Wednesday, with roughly 20 local residents coming out to offer their opinions on how best to tackle the ongoing parking and traffic congestion issues along Main Street.
After hearing numerous complaints in the weeks leading up to October's municipal election regarding parking and traffic congestion in downtown Bonnyville, Sobolewski made it a priority to address those concerns – with last week's meeting being a “successful” first step in the right direction.
“I'm very pleased with how the discussion went this evening,” Sobolewski said. “For the past two years there has been a definite noticability of increased traffic congestion and lack of parking for residents wanting to shop along Main Street.”
He added, “The purpose of hosting this session tonight was to include the public and get their thoughts on what they think the problems are. There were a lot of fantastic ideas on how to solve the issues we're currently dealing with brought forward by those in attendance. The things coming out of tonight's meeting didn't come from me, they came from residents of this town and that's very important. Any time we can get different ideas and different viewpoints coming together for the betterment of this town, it's a positive thing.”
The discussion was divided into four separate sections, with residents talking about the much-publicized problems with parking and traffic congestion along Main Street before offering their opinions on how best town council should move forward. They also discussed a transportation study centering on available off-street and on-street parking in Bonnyville conducted by the town in 2001.
Those in attendance seemed to agree that the parking issues had much to do with staff parking. Genia Leskiw, a long time resident of Bonnyville and current MLA for Bonnyville – Cold Lake brought up the fact that businesses are allowed to operate in town without providing on site parking for staff and local shoppers as a significant problem.
Public Safety Director for the MD of Bonnyville Chris Garner, another long time resident of the town, pointed out that vehicles are often taking up twice as much room as they should when parallel parking along Main Street and suggested the town could look to install clear and marked parking spots as one way to address the issue.
Others in attendance brought up the possibility of installing parking metres so that the town could enforce its two-hour parking bylaw, while the possibility of the town purchasing land in some of the areas immediately surrounding 50 Avenue that could later be utilized for parking was mentioned.
With traffic congestion in Bonnyville becoming an even bigger issue in recent times, several residents brought up the idea of the town switching to a one-way system for its downtown core. The idea would see 50 Avenue and 51 Avenue both implement one-way systems so as to improve the flow of traffic, help solve the town's parking problems and even provide a platform for the downtown business community to expand and develop even further.
Another suggestion called for a three-lane system to be developed, with residents pointing to the newly adopted system on 54 Avenue as a potential fix for the significant backing up of traffic experienced whenever somebody wants to make a left-hand turn on Main Street.
Kelsey Brennan, owner of Thinkwerx Inc. said that both residents and representatives of the town had to step up and make the “tough decisions” that will best serve the community in the future.
“We're trying to come up with potential solutions that might very well be ten years down the road,” Brennan said. “We need to start picking up more land for the future and discussing ways to (improve the traffic flow.) Sure, people might not like it right now, but in the future when people are reaping the benefits (of these decisions) they will look back and realize that we did the right thing.”
Leskiw echoed those sentiments, saying local residents had a responsibility to get involved and help shape the future of the community.
“Parking and traffic congestion in Bonnyville has been an ongoing issue for a long, long time so kudos to the mayor for having the initiative to put on a meeting like this,” Leskiw said.
Sobolewski said he was looking forward to taking the ideas from the meeting back to council.
“We generated some really fantastic ideas here tonight that myself and council can really start chewing on,” Sobolewski said. “Some of the ideas were as simple as painting some lines, so there are things we can start working toward immediately.”
He added, “The local business sector is the lifeblood of our community, so we're going to look hard and work hard to solve the issues at hand.”
