City proposes cool pedestrian light pillars for downtown

Plans for a Queen Street "transformation" will be unveiled by city planners next week at an open house at Sault Ste. Marie's civic centre.

The new streetscape concepts, which call for cutting down all existing downtown trees and replacing them with other species, will be on public view from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 17 in city hall's Plummer Room.

The Downtown Association's board was allowed a sneak peek at the design renderings on Tuesday night, with strict instructions from the city's planning department that they not be made public.

Each intersection was shown with what were described as pedestrian light "totems" similar to those shown above in Great Yarmouth, England.

Existing boulevards remain unchanged in the proposed designs, but the current planter boxes are removed.

The ash trees planted on city property have been devastated in recent years by emerald ash borers and the city wants to replace them with a more diverse mix of durable tree species.

The city wants to roll out the Queen Street changes one block each year, starting with the block between Bruce and Dennis.

This, says Downtown Association Manager Duane Moleni, is similar to the city's approach to building the Hub Trail: complete one small section as a pilot project, and if everyone loves the concept, find the money to construct the remaining sections.

Members of the  Downtown Association board showed little enthusiasm for what they saw on Tuesday night, expressing concern that they hadn't been consulted and they would sooner wait and rebuild all of Queen Street simultaneously.

They called for Downtown Association members to attend next week's open house and make their views known.

(Photo: Schréde Nemo pedestrian light pillars, shown installed in Great Yarmouth, England. These are similar to the light "totems" shown in City of Sault Ste. Marie downtown streetscape concepts presented on June 9, 2015 to the Downtown Association board.)