Cameron Street Bridge Replacement Plan Approved

Thursday, March 01, 2007 03:57 AM

The Cameron Street bridge, as it looked the day it was closed in the fall of 2005 (opinion250 file photo)

Prince George City Council has approved the Capital plan for 2007 through 2011.

The replacement of the Cameron Street Bridge is outlined for completion in 2009, but Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley says that time frame is not acceptable to him or to many residents.

Listed as number 87 on the City of Prince George’s Capital Plan , the Cameron Street bridge replacement could be completed as early as 2008 if there are no hold ups on environmental issues.

Development Services Bob Radloff says the intent is to complete the reconstruction in 2008, however, that all hinges on there being no delays or surprises in the environmental reviews. Right now, the Capital plan outlines the design and tender documents for 2007, demolition of the old superstructure and start of construction in 2008 with completion in 2009.

The Cameron Street Bridge has been out of commission since the fall of 2005. It became a key election issue and remains a source of concern for business owners along First Avenue who say they have lost a significant amount of “traffic” since the closure of the bridge. The closure has also created a concern about goods moving through the downtown core from highway 97 to highway 16 east. Traffic now has to use 5^th Avenue and Carney to bypass the old Cameron Street Bridge connections.

The number one item on the Capital Plan is the RCMP building. The cost for the new building, to be built on the site at the corner of 4th and Victoria is $3,094,000. The plan sets up the design of the building for 2007, and construction from 2007 to 2009.

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Posted on Thursday, March 01, 2007 03:57 AM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: kimbo on March 1 2007 3:48 PM

Levy,levy,levy and more levies.

Chjeers

Posted by: camoose on March 1 2007 4:26 PM

To be shown as a separate levy on the tax notice, I presume. Right up there along with the road levy and of course the mayor's travel budget.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on March 1 2007 10:26 PM

Anyone know what the police building on 5th ave, just past the Pentacostil church on Ospika, is used for?
Do the police still use an area in the downtown Post Office?
What other buildings does the RCMP use?

Posted by: owl on March 2 2007 12:16 AM

That's the North District Headquarters. The City has nothing to do with paying for that. There are 37 or so Detachments overseen by that Headquarters.

The BC Division is the largest of the 4 federal regions. It is about 1/3 of the RCMP force.

It is the federal, provincial as well as municipal police force in all but 12 communities in BC (Abbotsford, Central Saanich, Saanich, Delta, Nelson, New Westminster, Oak Bay, Port Moody, Stl' Atl' Imx Tribal Police (Lillooet), Vancouver, Victoria, West Vancouver)

The pacific region headquarters is located in Vancouver and includes BC and the Yukon.

I would be interested in finding out how much integration there is in the whole northern district and how it is determined what the City of PG is responsible for with respect to payment and what is Provincial responsibility. According to their site, there is a study of integrating services in the lower mainland going on at this time since it is perceived that there is a lot of duplication.

So, how do we know that we are actually paying for our own needs rather than the needs of Pineview, for instance, or the reverse. Is it based on location of criminal activity? What if there is a break-in on Tabor Blvd and one at Tabor Lake and it ends up being the same perpetrator?

Posted by: thereasonableman on March 2 2007 11:38 AM

Yama steers Owl off the main road and onto a skidder trail again. Anyone know which story he ended up on ?

I still like my idea the best for replacing the Cameron St. bridge. Airlift one of the fast ferries over the old bridge and drop it across the river, open both ends and pave the approaches. It would have only cost us $1 plus air freight.

God, do I have to come up with ALL the good ideas ?

Posted by: Palopu on March 2 2007 3:51 PM

Yampoocat.

When the new Regional Police Station was built at 5th and Ospika the Police moved there from above the post office. The space above the post office has been empty ever since. I now understand that the Post Office will sell their building and then lease back the portion that they need for postal services, and whoever buys the building can then lease out the space. The Post Office doesnt want to be in the leasing business.

Insofar as the Prince George police go I beleive that the City pays 85% of their cost and the balance is picked up by the Province. In addition to the 119 to 121 or more Police Officers in Prince George we also have 50 people on the payroll to do the paperwork etc; These personel are paid for by the City. Then of course you have the 3 Civilians now running the Community Policing office which used to be run by the Police, so we have 3 more on City payrolls.

As I said before City staff in Prince George number about 755 People, and I dont think that number includes Initiatives Prince George, The Library, or the Art Centre. So you can see why we are going broke, and raising taxes.

Posted by: Palopu on March 2 2007 9:32 PM

The cost of the new Police Station will be in the area of $21.5 Million and not $ 3,094,000.00 as outlined in the article above.