Drivers have been using Sidney’s new roundabout at Fifth Street and Ocean Avenue for a few weeks and all that’s left to complete it is landscaping in the centre.
Sidney Mayor Larry Cross says most of the comments he has received about the project so far have been positive (while he does admit there have been a couple of grousing comments), with many people looking at the roundabout as a traffic calming feature. It tends, he continued, to slow traffic coming into town from Lochside Drive.
The project, which was funded by the federal and provincial government gas tax fund and not by Sidney taxpayers, is keeping to its $1.57 million budget, said the mayor.
“As far as I know, it is,” he said. “There have been no panicked messages from staff which is always a positive sign on any project.”
The work is mostly complete and ahead of schedule. Cross said the roundabout was scheduled to be complete by the end of June. It’s looking like it will be done by early to mid-June instead.
“That’s good news,” Cross said.
Landscaping around the roundabout and in its centre is the next step. Cross said the town plans to put some temporary plants into the middle of the roundabout — shrubs, trees and other greenery.
The long-term plan, he said, is to create a centerpiece incorporating the branding information developed by the new business improvement area (BIA) board as well as details from an ongoing wayfinding signage program.
Cross said a final concept plan for the space will probably be ready for consideration in late fall. The mayor added there is no official opening planned for the roundabout, as it has already been in use for a few weeks.