Time for action
Mayor Philip Brown said enough talk on long-awaited Charlottetown roundabout
Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown wants to push the envelope on a proposed roundabout that takes in three separate intersections in the city. Brown is talking about what’s often been called the Vogue Optical roundabout, which takes in St. Peters Road, Brackley Point Road and Belvedere Avenue. “The talkin’ has gone on a long time,’’ Brown said during an interview.
The mayor pointed out rightly that the issue has been on the city’s agenda for the past three municipal elections. “Before the election in 2010 we’re going to start digging. They were going to start construction for the new roundabout in 2011. That election passed. 2014 an announcement was made that they were going to start in 2015. 2018, it was made again.’’ During this past election campaign, Brown said he heard from people at the door in the area that there is more concern regarding the issue now that D.P. Murphy is in the process of building a new Wendy’s restaurant next to Leon’s Furniture, making things even more challenging.
Brown would like to see the file moved forward in 2019. Coun. Terry Bernard, the former chairman of the public works committee, said in August that work should begin sometime by mid to late 2019. Bernard said while many residents may have thought things would have been moving by now the money simply hasn’t been there for the project.
The project will require not only municipal dollars but also matching contributions from the provincial and federal governments.
Bernard said the next application process for the new federal government Building Canada Fund projects, which emphasize road projects, should begin by March.
“We’re basically ready to go and so what the plan was to go in and do all the earth work as far as pipes and replacing water lines, replacing sewer lines and so on,’’ Bernard said at the time. “Once that earth work is done then we would go about finishing the roundabout.’’
The councillor said he fully expects the roundabout will be approved in the next round of federal funding.