Columbia Street widening project begins with 4th Ave. closure

NEWS/ CITY — Columbia Street will be a little tougher to drive through starting today and lasting for several weeks as the long-planned widening project gets underway.

First part of the job involves relocating a major B.C. Hydro switch box, which forces the closure of Fourth Avenue at Columbia for up to a month.

Two lanes will be kept open — one in each direction — on Columbia Street but Fourth Avenue between Columbia and the alleyway will be closed to all traffic.

The work will require trenching across Fourth Avenue at two locations – Fourth Avenue at Columbia Street, and just south of the alleyway (between Columbia Street and Nicola Street) that crosses 4th Avenue. The work will also entail trenching across Columbia Street. During the closure of Fourth Avenue, transit buses that access Columbia Street from Fourth Avenue will be rerouted.

“The B.C. Hydro relocates are much more complex than had been originally anticipated,” says Darren Crundwell, capital projects manager. “The third-party utility relocations need to be completed in order to facilitate the road widening component of the project.”

The entire widening project will include the addition of left-turn bays at Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Avenues and the closure of the Second Avenue median. Also included are utility relocations, signal and lighting improvements, pedestrian upgrades, centre medians and landscaping.

The contract for the project was awarded to BA Dawson Blacktop Ltd. for million.

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