Sidewalk project approved by council

Belleville Council meeting took place on June 23 in City Hall. Photo by Michelle Poirier

By Kate Shumakova.

BELLEVILLE – Repairs and new sidewalk construction worth more than $500,000 was approved by Belleville Council on Monday, but it is still not enough.

Ray Ford, BuildBelleville Deputy Director/Manager of Engineering, said that this contract is performed on the annual basis and usually costs around $300,000.

Councillors approved one of the contracts to complete sidewalk repairs remove broken sidewalk panels, and construct new sidewalk in various parts of the city. The project costs $516,997.60 including taxes.

“We usually make this type of project on the annual basis all around the city. We’re trying to managing and keeping up the conditioning of the sidewalks,” he said.

However, this contract does not include sidewalk repairs in the downtown. That is  part of BuildBelleville – a separate capital project that is looking at reconstructing and redeveloping downtown of Belleville at a total cost of $21 million. Part of this budget is sidewalk reconstruction for mainly Front Street, along with Macannany  Street and Market Street, and others, Ford said.

The downtown reconstruction plan promises to combine history with an eye forwards the future, according to the BuildBelleville website. The plan is looking at composition of seating, cycling spirals, lightning, signage, canopies, screens and gardens, it said.