It looks like Goderich is going to be the next Huron County town to have to tear up its main street to upgrade its infrastructure.
Seaforth and Clinton recently went through the same process. Goderich Deputy Mayor Trevor Bazinet said planning for the project will take the next two years.
“We're going to take the remainder of this year and 2024 to do the planning," he added. "The infrastructure is very old and unfortunately it needs to be done. 2026 will be the construction phase and we're hoping that by June of 2027 it will be finished.”
Bazinet said their goal is to celebrate their bi-centennial in 2027 with a new, revitalized downtown.
Bazinet said it's a huge job and it's going to be very hard on businesses in the downtown area and a priority right now is communicating with the businesses to make sure everyone understands what's being done and why it has to be done.
“Sewer, water and gas, pretty much everything that's under the road that people don't really realize," he explained. "That's what we're looking at and then we're going to be looking at streetscape, widening the sidewalks possibly, how many lanes of traffic are we going to have, like parking."
Bazinet said they'll be hiring an urban designer to help with the project and they'll have several public meetings to get input from area residents. But he stressed it's something that has to be done and they'll do their best to minimize the inconvenience so people can look forward to enjoying their new downtown.