The Town of Creston is exploring whether residents on 1st Avenue Northwest would be willing to support paying for sidewalk and streetlight upgrades through a local improvement tax, following a request to improve pedestrian safety in the area.
The recommendation went before council on April 28, where councillors opted against funding the work through general revenues.
Instead, council asked staff to engage with property owners in the area on potential cost-sharing options.
Director of infrastructure services Brad Ziefflie said the rural residential road is not identified as a priority for upgrades in the town’s plans.
“1st Avenue NW obviously is in a rural area of town, lower density, and a local road was built to those standards,” Ziefflie said.
“It’s not named specifically in our multimodal transportation plan or OCP or the trails master plan for any development.”
The discussion followed a request from a resident in the area who raised concerns about pedestrian safety, citing limited lighting and the absence of sidewalks in an area with more young families.
However, staff said there have been no additional documented safety complaints or incident data tied to the roadway.
Cost estimates show installing additional streetlights would range from $16,000 to $24,000, while a sidewalk project requiring underground drainage would cost about $540,000. Combined improvements could reach up to $570,000.
The correspondence proposed the town allocate municipal funds for these improvements, which council ultimately rejected.
“It [the area] is not heavily populated and the benefits would be very localized,” said Mayor Arnold DeBoon.
Instead, DeBoon suggested going back to residents to see if they might be willing to contribute financially through a local improvement tax – a mechanism permitted under provincial legislation that applies costs to benefiting properties.
“That’s about the only way you can get this done with such a high cost where the cost isn’t shared by the entire town for something that’s only a benefit to a small area,” he added.
Councillors supported this approach, noting the benefits would be highly localized.
Councillor Carolyn Hawton also pointed out the validity of the residents’ concerns.
“I decided to drive down there in the dark just to see how dark it is and it is kind of dark down there. And I can see it being an issue. There are more young families than there used to be on that street,” she said.
Other potential safety measures were also discussed, including reducing the road’s speed limit or making minor road adjustments, though Ziefflie said physical constraints such as drainage ditches and steep slopes limit the town’s options.
In the end, council directed staff to take no further action on the initial request at this time. Instead, it approved a motion asking staff to explore cost-sharing and report back with their findings and possible approaches.
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