City of Charlottetown looks to redesign Pond Street

The City of Charlottetown is taking steps to make Pond Street safer.

The section of the street that runs between Queen Street and University Avenue passes through several parking lots of businesses — such as Value Village and a P.E.I. liquor store — and has raised safety concerns, according to city staff. 

"We've had some concerns from what we're seeing, the police are seeing, and — as well some residents and the local councillor — had concerns about safety in particular with pedestrians," said Scott Adams, manager of public works for the city.

The safety of students in the area who may be walking to lunch, for example, is a top concern, Adams said.

Sidewalks and curbs

The city recently hired a consultant to look at putting in sidewalks and curbing to help with the problem. 

Adams said the city tentatively has a sidewalk on the north side of Pond Street, as it's a path a lot of students and pedestrians use.

"We want to put it on that side, that's where there's that newer apartment building that's being built there as well, so we wanted to capture all of that," Adams said.

Another concern, he said, is a lack of barriers to define driveways into businesses.

"What we were noticing is drivers were entering the road from various spots along these paved parking lots," he said.

"The concern is for drivers in that respect, drivers don't know where to expect another vehicle to be entering and exiting the road. So we are going to be better defining those driveways along Pond Street as well."

Adams said there will be a raised concrete curb to define those driveways along with grass installments, and the team is looking at painting a line down the centre of Pond Street. 

Next steps

The next steps are for the department to speak with other city departments, like water and sewer and district heating, to get everyone on board. 

"There is a main district heat line under Pond Street that has seen a lot of repairs in recent years, so we're working with them to develop a plan so that everyone can do all their underground work …  so that in future years we're not in there having to dig up Pond Street," he said.

"Then next up we're going to be meeting and talking with with the property owners there and how this could impact their driveways."

The total estimated cost for the project is $285,000-$300,000, but work would not begin until 2020, pending capital budget approval. 

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