Regina Construction IV

[TMB14]

Originally Posted by one_brick_at_a_time

Have the new trees and boulevards survived the winter regarding the Victoria Avenue beautification project? I hope this project will show success to apply to other strips of the downtown road and sidewalk network.

Driving by the other day, I noticed the mulch is full of sand from winter and the centre curbs took a beating from the snow-plows. I understand that we are a winter city that requires lots of snow and ice control, but good god our sidewalk/concrete infrastructure gets pulverized by the plows and salt, especially the new bigger pedestrian crossing curbs.

[McBean]

Originally Posted by TMB14

Driving by the other day, I noticed the mulch is full of sand from winter and the centre curbs took a beating from the snow-plows. I understand that we are a winter city that requires lots of snow and ice control, but good god our sidewalk/concrete infrastructure gets pulverized by the plows and salt, especially the new bigger pedestrian crossing curbs.

Ya, I'll echo what TMB said. I was at a light on Vic Ave & Smith right by city hall, looking at the new curbs with chips out of them everywhere from the winter snow plows. Not sure that can be prevented in this winter climate city.

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by McBean

Ya, I'll echo what TMB said. I was at a light on Vic Ave & Smith right by city hall, looking at the new curbs with chips out of them everywhere from the winter snow plows. Not sure that can be prevented in this winter climate city.

Well they should be doing the curbs in steel in main areas.

[Draftsman]

As with anything, these things are built at the cheapest cost possible.

The easiest way to get around this, is what the City has been doing on many busy, main streets (ie: Broad Street), which is eliminating the centre boulevard altogether. This gets rid of the ugly, chipped concrete, and would make it easier for street plowing/cleaning. In doing so, they could widen the sidewalks and/or curbs a bit and perhaps add landscaping on the sides (at least more than what little bit we have now). It also aids emergency vehicles to get through during heavy traffic (remember those 15 minutes pre-covid?)

-Or-

The City could involve one of our local engineering companies to come up with a proper curb design for all major streets that would incorporate a steel plate of sufficient thickness that has a rolled edge on top, and has anchors on the back side that get imbedded in the concrete. Yes, I am well aware that the City used to do this years ago, but those too got peeled back by the strong steel blades of the snow removal equipment, however, it is my belief that these plates need to be welded together as one continuous piece. The vertical backsides at each joint should be bevelled, allowing for a stronger weld, preventing them from 'catching' on a grader blade for example. I don't even think that this was done on the earlier types. This will definitely cost more money, but in the long run, the curbs will hold up better and longer.

I'm no engineer, but as my name states, I was a draftsman (as it was called back then) working in the steel industry. I'm sure there will be negative opinions, which is fine, but I would be interested to hear others' opinions. Thanks!

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by Draftsman

The easiest way to get around this, is what the City has been doing on many busy, main streets (ie: Broad Street), which is eliminating the centre boulevard altogether. This gets rid of the ugly, chipped concrete, and would make it easier for street plowing/cleaning. In doing so, they could widen the sidewalks and/or curbs a bit and perhaps add landscaping on the sides (at least more than what little bit we have now). It also aids emergency vehicles to get through during heavy traffic (remember those 15 minutes pre-covid?)

I definitely disagree with this part. Aesthetically, the boulevards are very important. The wide open boulevard-less streets are so less appealing. Additionally, they are a traffic nightmare for streets with retail/office. Cars constantly sit and block traffic as they try to make illegal left turns across the yellow lines. Happy to hear they're brining one block back of median on Albert St.

I've always wondered why the graders couldn't have a hard rubber edge to help prevent the damage to concrete. If course additional training and time could help reduce the damage.

[TMB14]

Originally Posted by McBean

Ya, I'll echo what TMB said. I was at a light on Vic Ave & Smith right by city hall, looking at the new curbs with chips out of them everywhere from the winter snow plows. Not sure that can be prevented in this winter climate city.

Maybe they could use a smaller plow (like the yellow side-walk ones) along the boulevards/curbs and then use the big ones to move the snow after? I'm really not sure.

Near my place, the plows have destroyed the already old, crumbling sidewalks. Some are asphalt-covered (gross) and have had the asphalt ripped free of the underlying concrete, while others are 60 year old sidewalks that are now missing huge chucks out of them. I guess it doesn't cost the city anything if they never repair/maintain pedestrian infrastructure.

[The mayor]

https://www.620ckrm.com/2021/05/17/c...nola-facility/

“There’s a lot of people that are pretty darn excited about Regina having the largest canola crushing plant in the world, and us becoming that amazing place for it to potentially happen,” said Shaw.

Shaw says the facility would have so many positive effects on the community.

“It’s creating 100 well-paying jobs with two years of construction, the amount of income that’s going to put into our city,” said Shaw. “The spinoff of even just that plant being built, and all the companies around supplying stuff and working, that’s some positive stuff that’s going to happen.”

In a statement from Viterra, says they’ve selected the site because it’s located in the heart of the industrial zone.

“Prior to making our announcement, we engaged closely with the City of Regina to discuss our plans for the site, and ensured it aligns with their plans to foster additional growth and economic investment in the city,” read the statement.

[Drofmab]

Originally Posted by TMB14

In other news, lots of work happening where the new Argyle/St. Pius schools will go.
...
There's also a parking lot (pending council approval, I believe) that will be located on the NW corner of Lakeview Ave/Kings Rd.

I thought this was approved. Or did Planning Commission or Exec Committee recommend? I'm reasonably sure the design of the property was heavily dependant on getting that parking lot - if they couldn't get it, they'd have to allocate more of the existing Argyle property to parking... which would influence building, and green space design.

Originally Posted by TMB14

Seeing as most of the land is provincially owned, it's really hard to say. I could see a modern version of "Lakeview Estates" (located at 22nd/Retallack) which I believe was the site of a school once upon a time.

I went to a couple of the planning/info meetings for this - I recall discussion of a land-swap: City gets St Pius property in exchange for the parking lot land. Might not have been as straightforward as that, but something similar.

EDIT: Confirmed - Regina city council agrees to trade land with province to pave way for parking lot in Kinsmen Park

[Drofmab]

Originally Posted by McBean

Ya, I'll echo what TMB said. I was at a light on Vic Ave & Smith right by city hall, looking at the new curbs with chips out of them everywhere from the winter snow plows. Not sure that can be prevented in this winter climate city.

Other winter cities have implemented measures to protect curbs, tree boxes, etc from snow equipment, sanding and salting. It's do-able. But it costs money, and involves a concerted and sustained effort.

[The mayor]

https://thestarphoenix.com/

The second-term mayor acknowledges 'anxiousness' in Saskatoon about the push for a new arena in Regina in his state of the city address. What’s his hurry

[TMB14]

Originally Posted by Drofmab

I thought this was approved. Or did Planning Commission or Exec Committee recommend? I'm reasonably sure the design of the property was heavily dependant on getting that parking lot - if they couldn't get it, they'd have to allocate more of the existing Argyle property to parking... which would influence building, and green space design.



I went to a couple of the planning/info meetings for this - I recall discussion of a land-swap: City gets St Pius property in exchange for the parking lot land. Might not have been as straightforward as that, but something similar.

EDIT: Confirmed - Regina city council agrees to trade land with province to pave way for parking lot in Kinsmen Park

Thank you for the updated information! I live in the area, so I'm quite eager to see this school go up as my kid will be going there in a few not-so-short years.

[watchedmofu]

Saskatoon has a real bad case of penis envy. Saskatoon thinks they are the new centre of the universe.

[BrutallyDishonest2]

Originally Posted by watchedmofu

Saskatoon has a real bad case of penis envy. Saskatoon thinks they are the new centre of the universe.

[Draftsman]

[The mayor]

In all reality it makes no sense who builds their arena first but I’m sure both of them will be adequate The only fact Is that in Regina’s case building an arena of 10,000 seats is inadequate it should be at least 16,000 seats as I was going to last for the next 50 years

[StealthGirl]

Charlie Clark can go ahead and build a downtown arena with whatever public money he thinks he can. I don't think Regina has public money for a new downtown arena.

[one_brick_at_a_time]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

I suppose this could be his way of drumming up popular support in both cities which would put pressure on the province to provide some funding. It would be a smart ploy but not sure how effective it will be.

If the funding was contingent that both facilities would have to be built downtown in each city would be good.

[Kegger]

Originally Posted by The mayor

https://thestarphoenix.com/

The second-term mayor acknowledges 'anxiousness' in Saskatoon about the push for a new arena in Regina in his state of the city address. What’s his hurry

I don't think many people in Regina would care at all if Saskatoon got one first. It would have no impact on how fast / slow we moved on ours.

I guess this is a thing in Saskatoon.

[Draftsman]

Originally Posted by Kegger

I don't think many people in Regina would care at all if Saskatoon got one first. It would have no impact on how fast / slow we moved on ours.

I guess this is a thing in Saskatoon.

I would be quite happy for Saskatoon to build their new arena first. That way we can see what they are building, allowing Regina to build an arena that will be better, or at the very least, competitive.

[Drofmab]

Originally Posted by djforsberg

…we are certainly going to be needing less office space even after things open back up. I also know others that work at various companies in Regina that are based downtown who will be working from home permanently…

While many businesses (retail, restos, medical, dental, law firms, banks, etc) will continue to have a need for staff to be in-person, the long-term exodus of employees from downtowns will have significant ripple effects. Some of those businesses with a need for staff in-person may re-evaluate their location, if the daytime customer base is 30-50% of what it was pre-pandemic.

I know several (large) employers that have explicitly told staff that work-from-home is the new standard. In-person is on an exception-basis. They’re looking to shed downtown leased-space. AND they’ve probably heard from employees that a return to the office will cause them seek other opportunities.

Other than provincial government & prov Crowns (optics, I believe) - I’m not hearing of many employers with plans to mandate a shift back to an office-based workforce. There’ll still be people who choose to work from a downtown office, but in many cases, this will be a choice (no space at home; internet issues; need for social interaction; etc)

When my downtown employer approves larger-scale return (we’re at 5-10% in-office right now), at best I’ll choose 2 day per week downtown. My spouse, by contrast, went back to FT downtown (by choice) this week. She’s one of the few - office is maaaybe at 15%.

Ivy 2025, downtown will look completely different from 2019. Great opportunity to reshape it & encourage more restaurants, pubs, entertainment, etc. The parking infrastructure will also need a shake-up - it was excessive in 2019. Will be massively over-built in 2025, given typical daytime occupancy drop.