On June 28th, 2022, Mayor Lee Brain gave a ‘State of the City’ presentation where he spoke about a variety of important topics including water, housing and, to our delight, Active Transportation and potential street transformations of 2nd and 3rd Avenues West (Mayor Brain’s presentation can be viewed here and the discussion relating to downtown streets begins at 1:16:40).
Upon presenting the City’s concept redesigns of 2nd and 3rd Avenues, the Mayor made a call out to Complete Streets for Prince Rupert, “I’m hoping you’re liking this. You can give me a critique in the Q&A.” I wasn’t able to attend the whole Q&A so I’ll offer my feedback in this venue.
Mayor Brain emphasized that ‘concept’ drawings are not official plans and that rebuilding 2nd and 3rd Avenues would only happen after a mega-infusion of dollars and would be accompanied by complete overhaul of the water lines etcetera under the streets’ surface. In the case of 2nd Ave, the Ministry of Transportation may allow the City to modify the street after the Fairview-Ridley Connector Corridor project is complete.
2nd Avenue West: In our opinion, the City’s concept reorientation for 2nd Avenue West looks pretty good. Proposed are curb extensions on either side of the street (See the benefits of curb extensions here), a raised median to separate traffic, additional street trees, angle parking, bus access, sidewalks, and what appears to be a 2-way protected cycling path (See our cross-section view below based on the City’s concept).
City of Prince Rupert’s concept reorientation of 2nd Avenue West
Cross-section of the City’s concept reorientation of 2nd Ave West
3rd Avenue West: From a Complete Streets perspective, there is one thing to celebrate in the City’s concept reorientation of 3rd Avenue. There are curb-extensions on one side of the street.
City of Prince Rupert concept design: Two-way traffic angle parking one side
There are a few things, however, that are less than ideal about the City’s concept for 3rd Avenue pictured above. Half jokingly, the Mayor commented, “We have a parking problem downtown… ‘cause people don’t want to walk one block to their location!” In response this ‘problem’, angled parking is proposed. This would supposedly increase parking by up to 40% on each block. However, since the mayor mentioned extra parking lots are also being considered for locations in the area, and when the next available parking spot is often available on the next block, we question the necessity of the angled parking, especially since it appears to come at the expense of protection for people who would choose to cycle or roll downtown.
Would a mother or father feel comfortable cycling down 3rd Avenue with their seven-year-old son or daughter? What would the street be like if they could? Cities and towns that have prioritized the safety and comfort of pedestrians have realized the health, social and economic benefits of such an approach. With more housing slated for downtown, it really is the time to prioritize the pedestrian in Prince Rupert.
Lewis Mumford once said, “The right to access every building in a city by private motorcar, in an age when everyone owns such a vehicle, is actually the right to destroy the city.” In our opinion, a separated, protected bicycle path, plus curb extensions at crossings instead of angle parking would make 3rd Avenue safer and more accessible to a greater variety of people. Check out our revised concept of 3rd Avenue West below.
Complete Streets’ reorientation of 3rd Avenue downtown