For the last 3 nights, the City of Lacombe has hosted workshops for downtown businesses to learn more about how the Main Street Improvements will be rolled out.
 
Work is scheduled to start mid-April on the east end of 50th Avenue, and crews will work their way west to 53rd Street near Rexall, replacing the sanitary sewer main the whole way, in addition to replacing the sidewalks, streetlights, and paving the corridor, with construction to wrap up by mid-October.
 
Engineering Services Manager Jordan Thompson says they've been meeting with business owners and managers to address the impact of construction on both their business and customers, and parking has been a main concern “unfortunately with the road closures that are required for this type of construction, parking will be displaced in some areas, but hearing that feedback over the course of these workshops, we want to explore options that we may have to try and improve parking at least on a temporary basis during construction and perhaps provide different options for both staff and patrons within the downtown area”.

Thompson says communication is key for this project to ensure visitors to our community know the downtown is very much still open for business during construction “we are working with the downtown business community through workshops like these to determine the best way to ensure patrons are aware that the businesses are open and that they have the information they need to be able to navigate the downtown during construction and be able to access all of the business fronts”.

The Main Street Improvements Project also includes upgrades to two parking areas, on the east and west ends of downtown, which is expected to create an additional 20 parking stalls.