With only a few more cosmetic adjustments needed, city officials say construction around Boulevard Lake is expected to wrap up within two weeks.
The City of Thunder Bay Parks and Planning department started its construction project of area trails in June, starting with the rehabilitation of the paths around County Fair Plaza. Afterwards, contractors moved onto the paths around Boulevard Lake.
Werner Schwar, co-ordinator for Parks and Planning with the City of Thunder Bay, said the contractors are finished most of the work on the west side of Boulevard Lake near the mini-putt course and on the south side near Court Street. He added they needed to raise the sidewalk to match the new path, add top dressing to trails and topsoil.
"We added some provisional items of the west side of Boulevard Lake to try and help with the flow and safety," Schwar said. "We realigned the trail through the main play areas so it doesn’t go on the road anymore; it goes slightly to the east."
The trial now connects from the playground area to the washrooms and separated the trails from the road on the west side, he said.
Schwar said Boulevard Lake made up a small part of the 32-kilometer path rehabilitation project, expected to finish around September. He added the operation budget for the trail-systems project sat at about $1.5 million.
However, those projects aren’t the only construction happening across the city.
Rick Harms, project engineer with the City of Thunder Bay, said the projects near Vickers Park and James Street were completed and they’re continuing to work on the May Street bridge expected to be completed around the first part of August.
"So far everything appears to be on schedule," Harms said. "We’ve completed the projects in time for the World (Junior Baseball Championships) and the project on Arthur Street was a spring project and that’s completed. Things are running smoothly and on time."
He added there were some delays with the Balsam Street project but expected the construction to wrap up around early next week.
The operating budget for the projects was about $8 million, he said.
Harms said last year involved more funding from the federal government at about $10 million.
He added the projects should wrap up in the fall.
