5th Street Complete Street Pilot Project

On February 12, 2016 the federal government awarded $3.253 million to the City of Courtenay to construct a Complete Streets Pilot Project on a section of 5th Street. This funding is from the Strategic Priorities fund under the Federal Gas Tax Fund. This grant provides 100 percent funding for all eligible costs related to the infrastructure project.

This project will redesign and rebuild 5th Street between Fitzgerald Avenue and Menzies Avenue. This will include:

• Replacing underground utility mains (water, sewer and storm water) that have reached their end of life
• Enhancing walking and cycling facilities
• Improving storm water facilities and the streetscape with street trees and vegetation

"Complete Streets" are an approach to designing, building, and retrofitting roads to ensure they are accessible to all modes of transportation and people of all ages and abilities.

Building Complete Streets in Courtenay will encourage more people to walk and cycle, supporting healthy lifestyles, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The construction of a Complete Street pilot project is one of Courtenay City Council's strategic priorities.

This segment of 5^th Street was prioritized as a Complete Street Pilot Project for the following reasons:

• Following the development of a community-wide transportation strategy, a detailed assessment of 15 potential Complete Streets corridors was completed in 2014. The 5th Street corridor was identified as important because it will attract people downtown and support economic development, provide infrastructure to support sharing the roadway for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, and is an opportunity to improve transit stops
• It provides an opportunity to replace aging underground infrastructure, construct a gateway to downtown, and connect current bike routes and trails (Fitzgerald Avenue bike lanes with the Rotary Trail along the rail corridor)
• The Downtown Courtenay Business Improvement Association, Comox Valley Accessibility Committee, Comox Valley Cycling Coalition, and School District 71 provided route suggestions to analyze and consider, along with City of Courtenay Council and staff
• A short list of potential sites was presented to Courtenay Council. 5th Street was identified by Council as the preferred corridor when applying for grant funding

A pilot project is a small-scale approach to implementing new ideas.  It will allow the City of Courtenay to integrate innovative designs into the 5^th Street corridor and provide valuable experience and information for future road design and construction in Courtenay.

In the spring of 2015 the City of Courtenay Council approved the submission of applications for Gas Tax Strategic Priorities funding for three important City projects: Rehabilitation of the 5th Street Bridge, 5th Street Complete Street Pilot Project, and the Integrated Storm Water Management Plan.

The Gas Tax Strategic Priorities Fund supports infrastructure and capacity building projects that are either larger in scale, regional in impact or innovative, and align with the program objectives of productivity and economic growth, a clean environment and strong cities and communities.

As a recipient of this grant funding, the City is now able to re-allocate current funding budgeted for the 5th Street project to other important City initiatives.