By Angela Brown

Battleford making improvements to downtown

Mar 8, 2017 | 12:15 PM

The Town of Battleford plans to remove a meridian in downtown which will help improve traffic flow and make it easier for residents driving through to access businesses.

At its last meeting council agreed to take away the meridian located on 22nd Street — commonly known as Main Street — between First Avenue and Second Avenue once the ground thaws in the spring.

Mayor Ames Leslie said the work is just one more effort to try to improve business on Main Street.

“It’s the first step to make it easier for customers and citizens to have full access to either side of the downtown,” said the mayor.

The downtown business community had asked for the meridian removal.

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Currently, many residents driving along Main Street in Battleford need to travel around the block because the meridian prevents them from accessing parking on the other side of the street.  

The mayor also said the downtown cores in all communities are feeling pressure from the continued growth of big box stores, so anything that can help bring more traffic to the downtown area will help local business.

The Battleford downtown core used to be busier when the post office building was open on 22nd Street. But this location closed about two years ago when the post office moved to a temporary location on 35th Street and Highway 4 while Canada Post addressed some issues with the old building.

Canada Post announced at the end of last year it wanted to sell the building, after closing the 115-year-old facility in 2015.   

The mayor said the town expects to hear from Canada Post in April about its future plans for its temporary site.

In the meantime, anything the town can do to help improve the downtown core for traffic will be a boost to business and the community, acoording to Leslie.

The mayor said council is passionate about helping downtown business and “wants to work to keep the downtown alive.”

Email: angela.brown@jpbg.ca