After a special meeting of council on May 8, the City of Yorkton has awarded the tender for underground construction on Darlington Street and Smith Street. The contract, worth $508,024, is to repair water mains and sewer connections under the streets.
The special meeting was called to get the tender awarded right away, so construction could begin immediately, explains Trent Mandzuk, director of public works. The project was awarded to Wyonzek Bros. Construction out of Canora.
The project is expected to start next week, with the details finalized by this Friday and construction starting soon after. Pavement in the area has already been removed. The Darlington section begins at Dracup and moves 70 meters to the west. On Smith, it’s between Dracup and Highway 9. The project is expected to be complete in June, to be followed by road reconstruction which is expected to be complete in August.
The water main in this instance dates back to 1949, while the sewer system dates to 1909. The project is tied to planned road construction in the area, Mandzuk says, and they want to do the replacement before the roads are replaced, part of an overall goal to do work in a coordinated manner. Given that the roads in the area are going to be repaired this year, the goal was to get the old water and sewer replaced so they did not have to dig it up again.
The project is being paid for from the operating budget, out of money set aside for water main replacement for each year, explains Mandzuk. The roads will be paid through the city’s annual capital budget.
