The first part of a facelift for St. Albert Trail is complete, but to green up the rest of the busy thoroughfare will cost $1.5 million. The median created on the trail between St. Anne Street and Sterling is full of trees and bedding plants.
The first part of a facelift for St. Albert Trail is complete, but to green up the rest of the busy thoroughfare will cost $1.5 million.
The median created on the trail between St. Anne Street and Sterling is full of trees and bedding plants. While some costs are still being calculated, it appears the project will finish under the $600,000 target.
“We will be under budget, it is not going over budget,” said senior project manager Larry Galye.
Gayle said there were no major hiccups on the project and the city would eventually like to extend the beautification efforts along the length of St. Albert Trail.
Spread over three years, the price tag for that effort would be about $1.5 million and council will have to decide whether to fund that during the fall budget process.
Coun. Cathy Heron, who championed funding the project during the 2011 budget process, said she is overjoyed with the final result.
“It is positive because it fits with our brand of cultivating life and the green feel of the city of St. Albert.”
She said prior to the upgrades the meridian looked broken and worn down.
“It looked neglected and now it doesn’t and people say it just looks warm.”
Heron said with the city pushing its botanical brand it makes a lot of sense to have trees like this on a major artery into the city. She argues it also has a major environmental benefit.
“When I talk to anybody in the environmental field, when we talk about greenhouse gas emissions, they say the No. 1 way to fight it is with urban forestry.”
Heron said she looks forward to talking about further extensions to the project, but also wants to work with the city’s St. Albert Trail committee
Coun. Cam MacKay, who voted against the original project, admitted the finished project does look good.
“I think it looks really good, but I still have the same concerns, I look at other places around town and I am not sure that stuff is going to survive the winter.”
MacKay said his underlying concern was always whether the shrubs and greenery could survive the salt and snow they would be subject to on a busy roadway.
Galye said he is reasonably confident that the greenery will do fine.
“We did select trees and shrubs that are more salt resistant,” he said. “We will get a chance to see what transpires over the winter.”
The proposed $1.5 million over three years would complete the median upgrades all the way from Hebert Road to Villeneuve. MacKay said before he could approve a project of that scale, he would want to be assured the trees and shrubs would survive the winter.
“I would want to see this stuff work out first, I would like to see it last for four or five years,” he said. “It would really look good, but I think it has to prove itself first.”
