Multi-million dollar highway upgrades on schedule: MTO

A $23.4-million highway construction project aimed at making a series of improvements along the Thunder Bay Expressway appears to be moving along on schedule, says a Ministry of Transportation official.

Wayne Prystanski, a regional contracts engineer with the MTO, on Thursday said construction officials should wrap up work at the Harbour Expressway by mid-August, allowing plenty of time for turning lanes and other work to be completed at the busier Red River Road intersection before winter weather sets in.

Prystanski said the plan is for all work to be completed by the end of September, but delays could push the Carillion Canada construction crew into next spring.

"Whatever work he opens he has to closed before he shuts down at the end of next year, and looking at the weather, we’ll decide what work he can continue to do until we tell him to stop for winter … and then come back next year to complete any remaining work," Prystanski said.

The project, begun in May 2009, will eventually see 10.3 kilometres of highway resurfaced between Arthur and Balsam streets, lights added and additional left-turn lanes added at the Harbour Expressway, John Street and Red River Road.

The contractor, Prystanski said, is adding workers to meet the impending deadline.

"He’s mobilized a lot of forces here, so we’re hoping he’s going (to finish on time). He may not meet the scheduled date, but he should hopefully be complete this year," Prystanski said.

Under terms of the contract, only two of the three intersections being worked on in 2010 can be under construction at any given time.

The turning lanes, which will necessitate the reconstruction of exit ramps at all three affected intersections, are the major time consumers that could push the project back, Prystanski added.

"They have to basically rebuild the whole intersection because the whole highway has to move to fit in the extra lane that we’re putting in. They had to rebuild all the off ramps from the highway, a lot of electrical work for the new lights that have to be installed. There’s a lot of catch-basin and storm work going on here, along with all the underground utilities here as well."

Traffic has been reduced to one lane in some sections, and the speed limit has been reduced to 70-kilometres an hour for the duration of the construction season.

Prystanski also confirmed the budget has increased slightly from the approximately $20-million price tag first attached to the project.

"There have been some extras on it, but not very much. The contractor has been building what was tendered in the contract," Prystanski said.