Mission drivers will no longer be able to park their vehicles on the north side of Seventh Avenue between Stave Lake Street and Grand Street.
The parking is being removed in order to make room for two new bike lanes along the corridor.
The new paving project will begin in mid-August and is scheduled to be completed by the time school begins in September.
Parking will still be allowed on the north side of Seventh Avenue between Grand and Cedar Streets (in front of Mission Secondary School). That portion of road will have a shared bike lane.
Details of the plan were discussed at last month’s council meeting. Mayor Randy Hawes raised concerns about the plan, noting that residents on Seventh Avenue would not be happy with the change.
“We are going to get very significant blow-back from these people who will be very angry because they park their cars there, and their guests when they visit, for years and years,” said Hawes.
Tracy Kyle, director of engineering and public works, told council that a vehicle count of the south side of Seventh showed that a maximum of 13 cars park there at any given time. She said that leaves plenty of room for the vehicles on the north side to park on the opposite side of the road.
But Hawes suggested that the project be delayed until residents could at least be informed.
“For us to move, without at least the courtesy of telling these people, to me, is pretty low. So maybe we’re going to do it, but let’s at least give them some advice ahead of time. Don’t just do things to people. This really bothers me,” said Hawes.
Since that meeting, a letter was hand-delivered to each household that will be impacted by the new parking plans and the project is moving forward.
Seventh Avenue has been the site of several construction projects in the past few months. Both BC Hydro and Fortis have torn up the road to make repairs and the district has fixed a sewer line by Fire Hall 1 and replaced a water main in front of Mission Secondary. With the work almost complete, the entire stretch of road will be repaved.