First look: Can a new plaza bring nature back to downtown Abbotsford?

A new plaza in the heart of Abbotsford’s downtown could give a boost to the area, while bringing a touch of nature back to the city’s urban core.

That’s the idea, at least, behind a new $4 million plaza the city hopes to build at a convoluted Essendene Avenue junction next to the Fraser Valley Inn.

The details

The West Railway Plaza, as conceived, is part traffic re-organization, part urban landscaping endeavour.

It would reshift the current junction between Montvue Avenue and West Railway Street to the south and, by doing so, create a new triangle-shaped slice of land directly in front of what is now the Fraser Valley Inn and its parking lot.

Although relatively small, planners have big ideas for the space. An array of trees and bushes would be planted around the plaza, and in a semicircular area across Montvue. Adjacent businesses could station tables and chairs on the perimeter of the site. And the plaza could also be a hub for “small cultural activities,” planner Ingrid Coney told council Monday, and public art could be erected in various places.

Coney noted that new developments could add 1,000 new residents to the downtown area in the coming years, and a multi-use pathway along the railway will connect many of them to the plaza and the shopping area.

And the trees and bushes would bolster the local urban tree canopy, and provide a “more comfortable outdoor experience,” council was told.

Although he supported the plan, Coun. Simon Gibson said he was concerned that the changes might pose traffic safety issues. He suggested that some drivers might end up turning into the park.

City planners, though, said that the changes are expected to leave the area safer than the current configuration. The plans at the moment will allow drivers to cross a portion of the plaza into the Fraser Valley Inn’s parking lot. But if and when the aging building is redeveloped, council was told the driveway will likely be eliminated. (Although the owners of the Inn have previously applied to redevelop the property, they have been at odds with the city about the future of the site. In 2020, they put the site up for sale.)

Council broadly endorsed the idea Monday. Before anything more is done, the city will seek comments from the public, come up with a detailed design, solicit even more public feedback, finalize the design, and then seek council’s complete sign-off.

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