If all goes according to plan, this village’s downtown area could look decidedly different within a month’s time.
The reconstruction of Drayton sidewalks resumed on July 15, which was surely a welcome sight for the owners of downtown businesses, some of whom had bemoaned the inconvenience – not to mention the delays.
“We hope that will be wrapped up in a couple of weeks,” clerk Patty Sinnamon said when asked about the duration of the work.
She said areas around the new streetlights were paved and the township’s contractor, GJR Construction Ltd., would complete work around the intersection of Wellington and Main Streets.
Council originally approved the work as part of the downtown revitalization project in Drayton. Last year council okayed using $291,450 from reserves to finish the sidewalks and related work (in addition to a $100,000 Trillium grant awarded to the Drayton Festival Theatre and a $163,000 provincial Rural Economic Development Grant awarded to the township).
The work was supposed to be completed in 2010, but was delayed last November due to inclement weather. At that time, Public Works Director Larry Lynch estimated 70% of the new sidewalk was completed.
The areas not finished were filled in with gravel and maintained by Mapleton staff over the winter. The plan was to resume the work this spring, but it was delayed yet again because of the wet weather in April and May.
“Everything is being pushed back,” said Sinnamon.
But things seem to me moving now, she added, telling the Advertiser downtown “fixtures” – including benches, planter boxes and waste receptacles – are now ordered and should arrive in a couple of weeks.
Also expected in “a few weeks” is the arrival of new Drayton signs. And in the fall the township will proceed with plantings in the green space by the municipal parking lot behind Wellington Street (due to ideal planting conditions in the fall, versus the summer).
As per conditions of grants received by the township, all work on the Drayton downtown revitalization project must be completed by mid-October, Sinnamon said.
