Downtown Whitehorse residents welcome Sixth Avenue upgrades

The City of Whitehorse is proposing about $3.6 million in upgrades to a six-block stretch of downtown roadway, but it hinges on the federal government agreeing to foot the bill.

The plan is to fix or replace water and sewer lines beneath Sixth Avenue, between Jarvis and Ogilvie Streets, and re-design the surface infrastructure at the same time.

"The aging underground infrastructure is really what's driving this," said city engineer Taylor Eshpeter.

He said the city has applied for federal funding to cover the project, but isn't sure when a response might come.

The plan would also see the roadway narrowed, with proper sidewalks and crossings added. Right now, much of the avenue has a wide gravel shoulder with no curb separating pedestrians and vehicles. 

Eshpeter said another goal is to improve the roundabout at Sixth Avenue and Black Street, with "geometric constraints, to try to encourage slower speeds" — for example, splitter islands on either side of the roundabout.

Nathan Millar, president of the Downtown Residents Association, welcomes the plan. He said residents have long pushed for improvements.

"Some aspects of the roadway are not the safest," he said, singling out the Black Street roundabout that many drivers zip through at high speeds.

"It continues to be a bit of an awkward — some would say unsafe — intersection." 

The city hopes to begin work this year, but Eshpeter says it's more likely to be 2017.

Local residents would not be on the hook for any community improvement fees associated with the work because no homes front that stretch of Sixth Avenue.