4th Avenue West Walkway concerns generate feedback for Council as part of the budget process

Community concerns related to the still closed 4th Avenue West Walkway which connects that area of the city into the downtown core have been somewhat off the radar during the Budget consultation process, but with the release of some of the correspondences from that process, it's clear the topic still resonates late with residents impacted by the near one year closure.

The most recent solution for the required remediation work came as part of the Budget plan introduced at the start of November, which called for a 250,000 dollar tax increase to the proposed budget that council is now considering.

If that option is approved by Council, it would add another 1.07 percent to the current recommendation of 7.7 percent tax hike increase for 2024.

The taxation option was introduced by CFO Bomben at the first Budget presentation of November 6th.

"Although not included in the Budget presently, should Council direct it, funds in the amount of 250,000 dollars would be necessary to make the required improvements to reopen the staircase between Fourth Avenue West and Third Avenue West. The cost is proposed to be funded through taxes and would result in an additional increase"

Tonight how some in the community view that option makes for some of the package of information that the CFO will present as part of her final overview of the Budget preparation phase prior to Council making its decision on the path forward at tonight's Council Session.

As we noted earlier, Ms. Bomben has a presentation as part of tonight's Committee of the Whole and as part of her overview, the Finance Department has provided background information in the way of correspondences to Council on budget themes.

Among those are a few from residents related to the 4th Avenue Walkway with Brian Musgrave, one of the original residents to bring the issue to Council providing for a detailed correspondence to the topic.

Among his notes the importance of the walkway not only for residents, but visitors to the community. He also notes of loss of income for businesses impacted,  ongoing vandalism since the walkway was closed and outlines concerns over Council's priorities towards transportation needs. 

Other correspondences also note of a lack of dedication towards active transportation and walkability as well as concerns over the vandalism issues.

The archive of those comments is part of the documents provided for tonight's Committee of the Whole Session.

Council members will consider their options on the Budget as part of the Regular Council session to follow the Committee of the Whole, that's when residents and those who are advocating for the reopening of the walkway may finally get some clarity on what's ahead for the walking transportation link.

More notes related to tonight's Council Session can be reviewed here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.