District plans a downtown entrance study

District of Squamish plans to conduct a downtown entrance study, a special project in the 2021 budget. The study will be done in two parts, and is expected to cost $45,000.

“The entry to downtown leaves an important impression on visitors,” the district says. “An efficient, free-flowing, and aesthetic downtown entrance will encourage visitors to the downtown and assist in downtown revitalization.”

Phase 1 of this project will build a model to assess the capacity of the transportation network in the downtown.

This model will then inform future transportation capacity upgrades and further study, the district says.

Phase 2 will study the area bounded by Highway 99 on the north, Pemberton Avenue on the south, Bailey Street/Third Avenue to the west and Logger’s Lane to the east.

It will take into account the following key issues: emergency access, Pemberton Avenue entrance, Bailey/Logger’s Lane truck routing, Cleveland Avenue gateway, downtown transportation hub, and network connections for all modes of active transportation.

The district says currently the developers are required to complete transportation assessments on individual basis which results in a piecemeal approach.

The comprehensive study will allow the district to determine needed upgrades as opposed to making one individual developer complete an upgrade.

The district is also planning a study so that the Planning and Engineering staff can guide developers on how to build their frontages.

“In many cases the existing curbs/sidewalks/parking are not the desired future condition. However, without conceptual designs it is very difficult to know what to tell developers to build,” the district says.

“With a good conceptual design in place, developers can build the appropriate frontage and save the District the cost of building it in the future.”