Woodstock Looking for Feedback on Downtown Core

Friday, 23 February 2024 15:46

With a focus on the usage and functionality, the city is looking for feedback on their newly released Downtown Streetscape Master Plan.

WOODSTOCK - The City of Woodstock is looking for your thoughts on their Downtown Streetscape Master Plan.

The plan focuses on bringing attention, usage, and functionality to the downtown core, with the city looking for your feedback on what you'd like to see.

In October 2022, Council adopted the Downtown Streetscape Master Plan, put in place to outline design concepts, recommended materials, proposed phasing, and cost estimates for the Downtown Development Plan.

As part of the 2024 Capital Budget discussions, Council decided to pull the Streetscape Redevelopment out of the budget until they had a better idea of the overall tax levy increase.

As well, council directed staff to get feedback from the public about how they would like to see the project move forward.

Development Officer with the City of Woodstock, Brad Hammond, says there is a lot being brought up and discussed within the plan, having a large emphasis on street-level changes.

"Within the current proposal, it's kind of rebuilding what people see at street level such as park benches, street lights. We're planning on getting rid of the six inch curb that's up against the parking cell, so if there's a festival or a market taking place in the downtown, people can transition from the festival to the roadway."

He goes on to say it's a great chance to get involved in the future of the city's main area.

"I would really encourage people who haven't looked at the survey yet to view that website. The goal of this is to make downtown a more functional place, a more active place for public events to take place. The ultimate goal would be to draw people to the downtown and really cement the downtown as the heart of the city."

The feedback will be presented to City Council on March 21 as part of a report outlining options for reducing the scope and cost of the project.

The deadline to provide feedback is March 3 and you can view the full plan as well as submit your feedback on their website.