The dream of turning Second Avenue Northwest into a pedestrian destination in downtown Dauphin took one step closer to reality recently with the awarding of a design contract.

Dauphin Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn said Urban Systems was chosen to lead the preliminary and detailed design of phase one of the Craft District Corridor Revitalization project at a cost of $69,839 plus GST. The 2025 City financial plan budgetted $85,000 for the

Van Luijn said Urban Systems has been involved with the project for some time, having completed a preliminary vision study for the project. The consultants have also completed other projects for the City.

In order to make the process fair and not rely on that past relationship, van Luijn said applicants were scored against a set of criteria involving overall proposal suitability, proposed schedule, service quality and reputation.

“Urban Systems was not only the most affordable one, they also scored the highest,” he said, adding the request for proposals drew one other bid from JRCC Engineering, which was close in both cost and score.

“So, we’re going to continue working with Urban Systems on getting this priced out and they’ll do all the technical drawings.”

This part of the process is the costing out of the vision for the district, which includes enhancements such as wider sidewalks, creating bumpouts, mid-block crosswalks, murals and lighting.

“We want to really make this a destination that is pedestrian friendly,” he said.

“We’re kind of taking a part of First Street towards the train station as part of that, as well, to create this really new entrance to our downtown where people can gather.”

Working towards a deadline of  Dec. 31, Urban Systems will produce a class A estimate complete with cost estimates and technical drawings.

Read the full story in this week’s edition of the Dauphin Herald.