Short-term pain for long-term gain. That was the basic message of a press conference Monday on road construction currently underway in the city.
To the chagrin of affected businesses and inconvenienced drivers, the Dracup and Mayhew reconstruction projects are taking significantly longer than residents are typically used to with road resurfacing. And with recent wet weather, they are going to take even longer.
That is largely because the City decided to go with concrete over asphalt.
“We want to be sure we do projects right, especially big multi-million dollar projects, projects that will last for a generation,” explained Bob Maloney, Yorkton mayor. “Combining new underground infrastructure with road surfaces capable of lasting up to 50 years just makes sense.”
Experience in other jurisdictions has shown that concrete is indeed the superior surface lasting two to three times the 15- to 20-year life expectancy of asphalt. And not only does it last longer and accommodate heavier traffic, it costs less to maintain, meaning over the long-term, it is cheaper, the mayor claimed.
In this particular case, it is also costing less to install. Maloney said the winning bid was also the low bid.
A press release stated cost savings related to maintenance and rehabilitation requirements over the road’s useful life could be as much as 20 per cent along with energy cost savings of around 65 per cent.
All of that means this year’s disruption will likely not have to be repeated for decades to come.
The price is time, in a nutshell, the whole summer.
Dracup North (Darlington to York Road), which is 70 per cent complete, is now pushed back about two weeks for completion in early August due to wet weather.
Dracup South (Broadway Street to Darlington) is still scheduled for September 2, but that, of course, could also change depending on the weather.
Phase 1 of the Mayhew project (Hwy 10 to Morrison Drive) to is also delayed, not only because of weather, but a soil compaction issue set crews back by about a week. That completion date has also been moved to early August.
As a result of delays, the City has postponed Phase 2 of the Mayhew project (Morrison to Darlington), which was to follow Phase 1 this year, until the 2017 construction season.
They still plan to install the roundabout at Darlington and Dracup before the end of the construction season.
