The proposed upgrade and beautification of Somerset Street, set to begin this spring, is not going as smoothly as planned due to what a local shop owner calls nitpicking over details.
Issues have arisen over decisions on the project to narrow the street from four lanes to two, widen the sidewalks and add bicycle lanes, trees, flower pots and benches.
Despite the Somerset Reconstruction Committee’s efforts to address the queries of residents and businesses surrounding the stretch of the road between Preston Street and Wellington Street West, some are questioning the motives behind its decisions.
Carmen Musca, owner of Musca Wine Pressing and Supplies, says the project has been delayed because the Preston Street, Chinatown and Hintonburg Business Improvement Area offices have been arguing over design details, such as the colour for benches and garbage cans slated for the bridge over the O-Train tracks.
Coun. Diane Holmes suggests construction could be postponed a year if the committee can’t finalize details by end of March, so construction can begin in May.
However, she says that this is looking less and less likely.
“Both the businesses and the residents feel that they can get the planning done by the end of March,” she says. "They’re all determined to work away at it, so it looks as though we may well get done this year.”
But Musca expresses concern with a range of issues, including the lack of parking in the area since the Plant Pool and Recreation Centre opened.
“There is no room for bike lanes unless they cut back on the sidewalk,” she says. “You can’t have it all on one street. It’s a busy street.”
Eric Darwin, president of the Dalhousie Community Association, says the negotiation process should help them better plan for the construction on Somerset between Preston Street and Booth Street in 2011.
“It’s the start of our project. And we will learn from how the process goes through. Same as we learned from Preston Street being redone,” he says. “We will learn how it’s improved on Somerset so that when we start going up the hill into Chinatown, we’ll make another modification or another improvement so that things go smoothly.”
Ultimately, Musca says she’d just like to see the project done with so everyone can move on.
This is the second time they’ve upgraded the road in front of her store in the last 10 years. That time, she says, they finished the project the following spring when they told her they would be done in November.
“This is what I’m fighting for,” she says. “Give me a start date, give me an end date. When you’re in front of my door, I want you in, I want you out. Get out of here.”