Staff
Fifth Street residents should be happy to know they’ll have a smooth surface to drive on before the end of the month.
The grinding of the road surface will begin next Tuesday (Aug. 17) and probably continue through part of Wednesday, the town’s transportation superintendent said late yesterday.
Public Works then will spend the rest of next week grading, packing, and watering the road, Milt Strachan added.
“It’s going to happen the week of [Aug. 23] for sure,” he stressed.
“We don’t have a confirmed day because it depends on where [the contractor] is at with their other jobs. . . .
“It won’t be any sooner than [Aug. 23] . . . but it will be done that week, for sure,” Strachan pledged.
The double-layer resurfacing will not be for the entirety of Fifth Street, just from west of the Portage Avenue intersection to west of the Wright Avenue intersection.
“That’s definitely the worst half of [Fifth Street],” Strachan noted. “There’s going to be some happier people when it’s over and done with, us included.
“We’re beating up our vehicles every day going down this street for years.”
Strachan said Fifth Street probably will be closed down during the paving work, but noted “they get it done pretty quick.”
The town has been preparing for the resurfacing by ditching along the road and doing some repairs over the past couple of weeks.
The latter has included replacing a watermain valve at Fifth Street and Cornwall Avenue, replacing several culvert laterals, and removing some footings in the south lane at 102 Fifth St. E. near the power line.
These repairs have resulted in the town having to temporarily close Fifth Street, or reduce traffic to one lane several times.
In related news, the curb crew for the so-called “biomass road” project on Portage Avenue is expected to arrive next Tuesday (Aug. 17).
Bay City Contracting’s subcontractor, Coratina Construction Ltd., will start to install concrete curb and gutter along Portage Avenue from First Street to Sixth Street.
They will be followed by the asphalt crew, which will pave that same stretch of Portage Avenue.
Depending on the weather, this should take two-three weeks altogether.
