At long last, work is underway on the Main Street redirection project!
No, it’s not exactly Turtle Place, but this redirection project and the work on Turtle Place are happening at the same time, and they’re both an important part of the future of our downtown. In just a matter of weeks, Main Street will be returned to a two-way street, on the currently one-way section from 6th to 15th Streets.
Integrity Excavating & Construction, Inc. of Battle Ground, low bidder for the City of Vancouver project, started today on reducing the size of corner bump-outs and removing plants where needed. In the next few weeks, crews will begin constructing new curbs and creating new brick ramps to sidewalks. Small sections of pavement will be replaced where bump-outs once were.
This redirection is one part of a larger downtown revitalization project that’s been in the works for a few years now. Harper Houf Peterson Righellis, the same firm that designed our own Turtle Place, is consultant for the entire prject, and has been working with the City and a 10-member community steering committee to move the plans forward. When the Main Street project concludes,it will include: the two-way traffic redirection; total reconstruction of the street and pedestrian areas; public areas and street furniture; landscaping and vegetation; new street lighting; utility improvements; and improvements to intersecting streets east and west of Main Street for a short distance.
For more information about the project, check out the City’s web page about it or visit the window displays at HHPR’s office (1104 Main), where you can see plans and concept sketches like the one below.
