Ornamental street lights will soon be illuminating George Street from Third Avenue to Sixth Avenue downtown.
City crews began installation of the lights on the 300 block of George Street on Tuesday. It will take until the fall to complete the $250,000 project, Mayor Dan Rogers said.
"It'll not only improve the visual aspects, but will improve the safety downtown," Rogers said. "Lighting is a way, through environmental design, to improve safety."
Last year the city removed the storefront canopies which had lined George Street since the 1970s. The installation of new lighting is the second phase of the facelift for the downtown street, said Rogers.
"That really opened up the street," he said. "There was a great response from the merchants and property owners on George Street."
The new streetlights include mounting brackets for banners and flower baskets, Rogers added, which can be used to promote downtown initiatives.
Rogers said the new lights are some of the tangible changes made in downtown by the city and Downtown Partnership.
"It's about making incremental progress, one step at a time."
The Downtown Partnership members are City of Prince George, Initiatives Prince George, Downtown Improvement Association, Lheidli T'enneh, RCMP, Prince George Chamber of Commerce, Beyond Homelessness Standing Committee, Prince George Native Friendship Centre and Northern Health.
Funding for the streetlights was provided by the city, through the 2011 capital plan approved earlier this year.
