THUNDER BAY — A section of High Street that’s been closed since August is expected to reopen in early November, slightly behind schedule.
The stretch of lower High Street between Lisgar and Queen streets should be reopened by the first or second week of November, the city said, compared to an original target of Oct. 24.
Work being done in the area includes the replacement of a watermain, road resurfacing, new sidewalks between Lisgar and Hester streets on the east side, and curb and gutter replacement.
The watermain work from Lisgar to Queen is complete, said project engineer Brian Newman, with crews now working to extend that to Oliver Road.
The city had planned to resurface the roadway up to Oliver Road, but that may be delayed until the spring of 2023 along with other portions of the work.
“All the pipe work will get done, but the curb and gutter and sidewalk work from Queen Street to Oliver will probably wait until next spring,” Newman said on Wednesday. “The road will be resurfaced from Lisgar to Queen, and just that last little bit from Queen to Oliver will get touched up in the spring and completed then.”
That’s partly because with overnight lows dipping below zero, conditions are less favourable for concrete finishing, which the city typically aims to wrap up by Oct. 15, he said.
“The contractor actually has two crews out there working from two different ends, because obviously they’re feeling the pinch of the weather as well,” he added. “If the weather persists and is good, you never know – we could get a bit more done.”
Newman said widely-reported supply chain challenges help account for the inability to complete all of the work on schedule.
“Getting raw materials — concrete this year has been a real struggle, getting the cement portion of the concrete in town has been a struggle,” he said. “Suppliers are having a hard time getting it. It’s delayed a lot of projects.”
The project has remained on budget, Newman said.
The High Street work is included in a roughly $3 million contract awarded to Nadin Contracting in June.
As well as road and watermain replacement on High Street between Lisgar and Oliver, that included road resurfacing, new sidewalk, and sewer and watermain replacement on Crown Street between Bay and Cornwall streets.
It also included a new watermain along the Lillian Street right of way the city says will provide a loop in the distribution system to address flow and water quality issues.
That Lillian Street work may not be completed this year, Newman said.
With files from Sheri Leviski-Kotyk, CKPR
