Residents can be forgiven for experiencing a sense of déjĂ vu this summer when the city starts work on some of its larger capital projects, specifically when it comes to roads.
That’s because two major road projects that were supposed to be finished last year but were delayed due to last summer’s heavy and constant rains are back on the city schedule this year.
Both the rebuild of Mission Avenue and completion of phase three of Ray Gibbon Drive will start up this spring, weather depending. Both projects experienced so many rain-out days last year they had to be shelved and revisited.
Phase one of Mission Avenue was completed last year, but almost three months later than planned. Phase two of the $5 million project will begin when weather permits, but the bulk of the work up to Mount Royal Drive will have to wait until school lets out, as Ecole Father Jan is smack in the middle of the construction zone.
“We should be done everything, all in, by the end of August. And that is including some rain days in there,” said Sue Howard, the city’s capital projects manager.
Crews have been doing what work they can on Ray Gibbon Drive over the winter and will start again in earnest soon. Phase three will bring the road from Giroux Road to Villeneuve Road. Howard expects it to be open by September.
“It might be sooner but we’ll have to see how the weather treats us.”
Other projects carried over from last year are work on Veness Road and the remediation of Riel Park. Veness Road will be completed up to Poundmaker Road, but Howard predicts the contractor will only have to close it for one day to complete the overlay. She said that will take place in May or June.
As for Riel, the soccer and rugby fields were stripped last year as part of the city’s ongoing effort to cap the former landfills located underneath to stop leachate from reaching the Sturgeon River. Howard expects all of the new topsoil and seed will be spread by June, then the irrigation systems will be installed.
“They are still on schedule to be turned over to the user groups for August 2014,” Howard said.
The biggest road project for this year is Parkwood Drive, valued at $2.3 million. The road, including Portman place, will be rebuilt from the ground up, a process scheduled to take three months and that will limit the comings and goings of residents starting in June as driveways will be off-limits.
But the project with the widest appeal will take place over two years as the city tries to fix what is ailing the shores of Lacombe Lake. Most of the lake’s shoreline has been fenced off since 2012 as a nuisance fire unveiled an eroding and crumbling shoreline. Unfortunately that happened during the budget process, before the city could put together a plan to fix it.
This summer, Howard said, the city will work solely to prevent any further erosion. Next summer the city, if the plan is approved in the 2014 budget, will rebuild those areas so they can take the fences down.
Some of the shore will be re-opened this summer after the city has a closer look at the entire perimeter of the lake, Howard said.
“We’re seriously looking at it. There are three key sections that are eroding and they will keep eroding. We will look at those and barricade where we have to.”
Other projects this summer include:
• Phase two construction of the east water supply main. This pipe will be built from where it is currently stubbed at the St. Albert Cemetery to the Oakmont reservoir. Its completion will mean the city will no longer have to tap the Morinville water line for some of its supply.
• Asphalt overlay. The top 50 millimetres of select roads will be stripped and new asphalt laid down. The city is working on finalizing its list.
