Traffic to keep flowing during underpass work

Although the town is still waiting to see if funding to rebuild the Portage Avenue underpass comes through, plans are in place to ensure the main traffic artery to the north end will keep pumping during the work.
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said yesterday that as a condition of the tender the town soon will be putting out for bid, one lane of traffic must be kept open on that stretch of Portage Avenue at all times during the $1.7-million job.
“At all times, one sidewalk and one traffic lane shall be open during construction for public use,” Brown noted. “Basically, one lane of traffic will be open in both directions.
“It’s similar to how you do a bridge on the highway, where you’ve got stop lights away from the bridge, and you let one side go through and then the other,” he added.
“If an emergency vehicle comes through, they take precedence.
“It’s pretty straightforward,” Brown remarked, adding it will be up to the contractor as to whether there will be people out at all times to signal traffic to stop or go, or whether they’ll use a light system.
“All we’re saying is you [the contractor] have to maintain one lane of traffic at all times,” stressed Brown, adding at no time should residents be forced to take alternate north-to-south routes, such as McIrvine Road or the emergency crossing at Victoria Avenue.
Brown said work on the underpass will be done in two phases—the west side first, then the east side.
The project will consist of replacing 180 metres of concrete from Third Street East to Fifth Street East, putting in new retaining walls, as well as a new sidewalk and handrail on the west side of the street.
The work also will include modifications to the railway abutment structures (installation of soil anchors), putting up new chain link fences, and upgrading to the storm sewer system (pump house and piping).
The existing roadway also will be reinforced and modified, with a view towards having an alternate truck route to the north sometime down the road.
Brown said the town hopes the public isn’t too irked by the projected delays in traffic, but added the project “has to get done some time.”
“Don’t forget, that thing’s 46 years old. It’s time to rebuild it,” he remarked. “People [have] got to realize there’s always going to be pain with construction.
“It’s not your normal circumstances. There’s going to be dust, noise, and activity,” he warned. “[But] you know what—it goes with the territory. You’ve got retaining walls and it’s time to repair them.
“It’s going to be inconvenient but someone’s got to do the work.”
Brown said the project is estimated to take about 16 weeks to complete. “But you could step that up if there’s better weather. You never know,” he added.
But Brown stressed whether or not the project happens at all this year depends on whether the town’s application to the Canada-Ontario Rural Infrastructure Fund (COMRIF) goes through.
The town is slated to will hear back on the funding by April 10. And if everything is a go, it would like to get the project started by May 1.
As such, the job will be put out to tender in the very near future. The request for proposals simply will contain a clause notifying contractors that the project hinges on the success of the COMRIF grant.
Since COMRIF only pays for two-thirds of such a project, the town will have to foot its share of the $1.7-million price tag—or roughly $562,000.
This amount already has been factored into the 2005 capital budget.
In other construction news, the town also is hoping to complete the “connecting link” reconstruction on King’s Highway this summer.
Assuming all the funding comes through for that job, Brown said King’s Highway will be overhauled (i.e., resurfaced, widened, and given new curbs and gutters) from Keating Avenue to Holmes Avenue, as well as a small portion between McIrvine Road and Daniel Avenue.
But unlike last year, Brown noted the highway work will not take place in late August and September. Instead, the job will start in mid-May, with a deadline for completion by early July.