Lakeshore Road Bridge rehabilitation can't wait until 2019: Cozzi continued from p.1 Timing and phasing of the reconstruction, expected to take two years, is a major concern to the downtown business community as the work will be disruptive for many businesses and patrons. To mitigate concerns, Town staff came up with three options, which included: · Moving forward as soon as possible with a construction start time of 2017; · Rehabilitating the existing road as soon as possible and deferring streetscape improvements (boulevards and parking lanes) until a later date; · Undertaking minor pavement repairs, and delaying reconstruction until 2019. The 2019 option was preferred as it allows more time to recover from recent economic difficulties. A specific timeframe also provides certainty to landowners and tenants, which Town staff said may assist in filling vacant stores. The plan would convert the downtown to a two-way street system in 2016 or 2017. The phasing of the plan would see the reconstruction of Lakeshore Road, from the Lakeshore bridge to Dunn Street, in the first year, and from Dunn Street to Allan Street in Year Two. The estimated cost is $200,000-$350,000. While restoration of the Lakeshore Road bridge was also planned for 2019 as part of this project, Dan Cozzi, the Town's Director of Engineering, said it can't wait that long. "Within the last few weeks, our consultant has undertaken more detailed inspections of the bridge revealing significantly advanced deterioration of the bridge deck; also that the steel box girders supporting the deck have experienced significant corrosion loss internally," said Cozzi. "This means the bridge rehab will have to proceed earlier than 2019 and therefore would move forward as a separate project before the streetscape and reconstruction project." Cozzi said Town staff would report to council in the coming months on a plan to move forward with the bridge rehabilitation as early as 2017. Downtown Oakville BIA Executive Director Sharlene Plewman said a survey of downtown businesses found a 51 per cent preference for the 2019 option. The other 49 per cent was divided equally between the other two options. Plewman said she had a response rate of 25 per cent to her survey, which she said is reasonably high by survey standards. "We do request that no matter when the implementation happens, that it does proceed with a plan for success," said Plewman. "I've indicated (increased) parking as a way to solve some of the business community's concerns. Along with that, let's allocate the right funds. The BIA is already starting to set aside some funds, so we can have some additional marketing support during this time and we are hoping the Town is prepared to do the same. "We would like to have some allocation of funds to alleviate the losses. Various towns have done this in various ways whether it be through low- or no-interest loans, or tax breaks." Investing in the downtown by doing things like setting up Wi-Fi for the area, was another suggestion, which Plewman said could help ease the coming impact of this construction. She also called for the rehabilitation of the bridge to be done in such a way it could stay open and cause minimal delays to residents accessing the downtown. Cozzi said it may not be possible to keep the bridge open to pedestrian traffic the entire time, but emphasized he would report back to council on the matter. 5 | Friday, November 6, 2015 | OAKVILLE BEAVER | www.insideHALTON.com A STEP BEYOND IN CARE Salima Kassam Reg. 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