A petition by residents of a northside Port Coquitlam street got the job done: A curb will be installed in front of their homes.
But the type of curb they’re going to get isn’t what they called for — and it’s $12,000 more than the version they proposed.
Yesterday (Tuesday), PoCo's committee of council voted to install a barrier curb as part of the St. Thomas Street road work, between Essex and Chelsea avenues.
Jason Daviduk, PoCo’s capital works manager, said barrier curbs are now being put in throughout the Sun Valley neighbourhood.
That type of curb isn’t mountable and discourages motorists from parking on the boulevards, he said. It also defines driveways as “there is an obvious drop in the curb height at the driveway letdowns.”
But after hearing from the main petitioner at Tuesday’s committee meeting, Coun. Nancy McCurrach voted against the barrier curb, saying the residents had originally asked for a rollover curb and gutter.
Since the petition, Daviduk countered, city staff have contacted St. Thomas Street residents and most support a barrier curb.
The additional cost to install barrier curb on St. Thomas is estimated at $61,000, compared with $49,000 for a rollover curb, he said.
It will be absorbed in this year’s capital works budget, Mayor Brad West said.
Coun. Steve Darling said the city “shouldn’t have to have residents petition to get curbs” as part of a road project. “That should be a minimum standard."
Rollover curb (photo credit: City of Port Coquitlam)
Barrier curb (photo credit: City of Port Coquitlam)
