The City of Courtenay is planning upgrades for a stretch of Cousins Avenue, between Willemar Avenue and 20th Street, and is looking for the public鈥檚 input on what should be included.

The project will include road improvements, repaving and replacement of underground services that have reached the end of their life or require upsizing to serve our growing community. It offers the opportunity to study current traffic flow and parking challenges in the area and investigate road and pedestrian improvements such as parking, sidewalks and trail connections.

The project team has developed three options for the Cousins Avenue Upgrades Project, and is looking for community feedback on designs for above-ground improvements that could impact businesses, residents and area users.

The city is hosting a drop-in open house on Oct. 18, 4-7 p.m. in the Rotary Hall of the Florence Filberg Centre (411 Anderton Ave.) to share information and gather feedback. Staff members will be on hand to answer questions and a survey will be available to provide input on project plans.

鈥淭he city understands that the unique nature of the Cousins Avenue area, with a mix of light industrial, single-family residential and mixed-use buildings, creates challenges such as traffic flow and parking limitations,鈥� said Adam Pitcher, the city鈥檚 manager of engineering, capital projects. 鈥淲e鈥檙e considering all of these various needs, (and) feedback from the community will be essential in determining upgrades that reflect the area and all those who live, work, and travel in it.鈥�

The city is encouraging members of the community who use the area to get involved and share their feedback on the design options. This will provide the project team with more relevant information and help create the best plan moving forward. Anyone who is unable to attend the open house in person but wants to provide feedback, an online survey will be available starting Oct. 18. Once a preferred option has been selected, detailed design is planned to start in 2024, followed by construction in 2025.

To learn more about the Cousins Avenue Upgrade Project, visit .