Staff
The Operations and Facilities division has reported the Portage Avenue underpass will continue to be completely shut down to all through traffic, including emergency vehicles, through next Friday (Aug. 21), at which time another status report will be given.
In an e-mail from Transportation superintendent Milt Strachan, he said “the rip rap and granular ‘A’ base have been completed and work is in progress forming and pouring the west side concrete lane slabs.
“As stated earlier, seven days of cure time for the newly-placed concrete to gain the needed strength to support the traffic loads will be required after the last lane slab is poured and as always weather will have a significant impact on the progress of completing the task,” he continued.
The new west side pedestrian walkway will continue to be open at all times.
During this complete closure of the Portage Avenue Underpass, emergency vehicles will have to use either McIrvine Road or the Victoria Avenue emergency crossing to gain access to/from the north end of the community.
The fire department will be coordinating the use of this Victoria Avenue emergency railway crossing with other emergency agencies.
The fire department has also placed two emergency vehicles in the north end area to compensate for the closure and assure a quick response to any incidents that may take place during this period, said Strachan.
Motorists will only gain access to/from the north end of the community by using McIrvine Road.
In related news, the Nelson Street and Victoria Avenue sections of the normal truck route are now open and the town is requesting that all heavy truck traffic use this route to alleviate some of the traffic congestion in the downtown and central area of the community and help the additional east/west traffic caused by the closure move more freely with less delays.
