After 15 months of construction, the St. Anne Promenade is finished and open for traffic.
The project wrapped up on Aug. 31 and now serves as the entrance to downtown St. Albert. Over the weekend, the St. Albert Farmers’ Market drew a large crowd and the visitors were able to explore the new addition for the first time.
“It does look really nice and it brings something different to the downtown core and we don’t have a really strong downtown core,” Brandee Leblanc said. “I think it’s good to have something extra in there and it really beautifies the place. Especially in front of city hall, it’s special to have something in there. It’s more just for looks really and I’m not sure the function of it will be of great importance.”
Not everybody saw the purpose of the construction though and thought the money could be better spent elsewhere.
“I don’t know what it’s going to do for us unless they’re going to the legion or the seniors’ centre. It was not worth the investment. We need a parking lot down here and not a roundabout.” Angela Chatwin said.
Some people were frustrated that money was spent on the roundabout rather than contributing to easing the traffic on St. Albert’s hot button issue.
“For them to invest money on a traffic circle rather than fixing St. Albert Trail for traffic to flow better I would probably say it’s not worth it, ” Sandra Christianson said.
Despite some negative feedback, many are hoping the new addition will help expand and revitalize the farmers’ market for the 2017 season.
“It looks beautiful and I hope it makes our layout better for the farmers’ market,” Linda Lego of Annie and Andy’s Gourmet Goodies said. “It’s going to be beautiful next year. What I see, I like.”
“It’s going to be quite a bit of a change,” Murray Robson said. “It looks great and I think it’s really going to benefit the market a lot more.”
Although the finished product may look nice, many vendors at the market felt put out by the construction.
“My opinion is that some of the customers are getting a bit annoyed because they can’t find anywhere to park,” Joseph Kent from Coal Lake Honey Farm said. “Some vendors have found that not as many customers have been coming so they haven’t been taking in the same amount of cash. It looks nice and if it’s back to normal next year then it’s fine.”
