Duane Hicks
A public meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday (April 29) to explain details of the $5.4-million Portage Avenue, Nelson Street, and Victoria Avenue truck route upgrade starting early next month, which will see the town improve the roads, as well as sewer and water, in relation to AbitibiBowater’s biomass boiler project.
Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said property owners in that part of town already have received letters notifying them of the meeting, which will start at 7 p.m. at the Civic Centre, but added everyone is welcome to attend.
Brown noted the meeting will provide information as to how the project, which is expected to start May 4 and end by Sept. 18, will affect property owners.
The portion of work on the two-year job this year will include:
•Victoria Avenue from Nelson Street to Front Street;
•Nelson Street from Portage Avenue to Victoria Avenue; and
•Portage Avenue from Nelson Street to the south side of First Street East (i.e., the intersection near the Voyageur Inn).
Next year’s work will include Portage Avenue from First Street East to Third Street East, and then Fifth Street to Sixth Street.
The underpass also will be repaved as part of the rehabilitation project there.
In addition to the road reconstruction and infrastructure work, Brown said there will be changes, such as the elimination of sidewalks, the public should be aware of.
For example, the sidewalk on the south side of the 300 block of Nelson Street will be moved to the north side (away from the biomass boiler).
As well, the sidewalk on the east side of Portage Avenue from Second Street East to Third Street East, and from Fifth Street to Sixth Street, will be removed, leaving the sidewalk on the west side to link up to the single pathway under the subway.
The upgrades are necessary to accommodate large trucks carrying waste wood to the biomass boiler, as well as enable the excavation of wood waste from the local landfill to be incinerated.
Brown added the water and sewer infrastructure also is in dire need of repair, adding the watermain which will be replaced dates back to 1913.
Bay City Contractors of Thunder Bay is the contractor for the job, with Engineering Northwest overseeing the project.
The job is being paid for mainly through several means, including grants from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. and “Investing in Ontario” fund, and federal gas tax revenues, with a projected funding shortfall of $363,500 the town may have to pick up in its 2010 budget.
In related news, Brown said the start date to continue work on the Portage Avenue underpass has not been confirmed yet.
The soil anchor testing done there last week met the desired specifications, and now the contractor will be able to cut the footing and widen the road.
Brown added the contractor is waiting for the ground to fully thaw, estimating that activity will resume in the next two-three weeks.
