ICBC has picked up the tab for four a couple of infrastructure improvement projects in Prince George.
Under the insurance corporation's Road Improvement Program, the city received more than $106,000 towards sprucing up Winnipeg Street and Tyner Boulevard. The funding is handed out annually to support projects that improve road safety and prevent collisions along roads or at intersections.
The bulk of the money went to the improvements along Winnipeg Street. ICBC awarded the project $97,900 for the work done this spring to change the corridor between Fourth and 13th Avenues to a three-lane road with bike lanes.
In a report coming before city council tonight, transportation manager Alan Clark said this is to bring the area in line with the city's Active Transportation Plan, in which Winnipeg Street is identified as an important north-south corridor for the network.
Still to be completed are the installation of signage to indicate no parking in the bike lanes as well as an island at Fourth Avenue.
The project was part of the city's 2012 road rehabilitation program and ICBC undertook a road safety audit this spring to assess the corridor's improvements.
"At the end of the day, they were able to support and provide funds for the changes we've made there," Clark said, adding the city has to take advantage of these funding opportunities where they can. "Considering the financial state we're in, anytime we can leverage money to provide improvements that provide safety to the community we want to try to do that."
The remaining $8,500 is for standard davit-type street lighting installed along Tyner Boulevard, for an approximately 300-metre stretch north of Ospika Boulevard. It was actually from the insurance corporation's 2011 funding cycle, which was handed out in conjunction with the Boundary Road connector project.
