The City of Fernie Jan. 14 announced it is giving a makeover to the parking lots at City Hall and the Visitor Information Centre this upcoming year.

Work will include increased parking, upgraded electric vehicle charging stations, and a variety of staging area and experiential enhancements.

Funding ($161,877.45) for this work has been secured through the Tourism Dependant Community Fund under the ‘Journey to Iconic Fernie’ project.

The proposed design sees the number of parking stalls at the Visitor Information Centre increase from 18 to 49, with the addition of four EV charging stations, three accessible stalls, and four RV spaces, the city outlined on its website.

“This project aims to increase available parking at the starting point to some of Fernie’s favourite hiking and biking trails, while addressing safety concerns at the Visitor Information Centre caused by long queues of vehicles and RVs along the highway and intersections waiting to enter and exit this area. Congestion at this location worsens annually with increased numbers of visitors, locals, and industrial traffic alongside RVs queuing to access the Sani Dump,” the city noted.

City staff are working on an interim location for the Sani Dump while a new permanent location is identified and completed so any disruption is minimized.

“Proposed solutions include improvements to the City-owned lot across from the Railyard Dog Park, featuring a proper water-fill station and Sani Dump,” the city said.

The city is also in early discussion with the Regional District of East Kootenay about the possibility of adding a Sani Dump at the Fernie Waste Transfer Station, it added.

Improvements to the City Hall and Visitor Information parking lots are expected to complete by May 2022.

Lead image: Proposed design for the Visitor Information Centre Parking Lot. City of Fernie images

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