The long-awaited redevelopment of Lake Placid Road, on the west side of Highway 99, is expected to start this spring, but the scope of redevelopment still has to be determined.
"We’re still in the preliminary planning stages for the project," Andy Chalk of the municipality’s public works department said last week.
The original plans for redevelopment of Lake Placid Road, drawn up several years ago, included curbs and gutters, sidewalks, underground wiring and a promise to consider rezoning applications for commercial buildings on Lake Placid. The intent was that the road would become a commercial corridor, leading from the train station to Whistler Mountain’s Creekside base.
However, the original plans included infrastructure funding from senior levels of government. That money has never materialized and the project has been mothballed since.
Chalk said last week that the intent is to go forward with construction this spring, but exactly what construction will entail still has to be determined. The budget – $850,000 is allocated in the municipality’s capital plan, all of it to be spent this year – doesn’t meet the needs of the original, full scale plan, Chalk said.
However, the municipality has applied to B.C. Hydro for a beautification grant to cover one-third of the $550,000 cost of putting wiring underground. Chalk said the municipality still has to come up with the remaining two-thirds.
Municipal staff are planning to have a workshop with council in March and to meet with Lake Placid property owners to discuss the final plans.
