Battleford town council got the ball rolling Monday towards a major rehabilitation project happening on 23rd Street in 2020.
The project is a local improvement for the rebuilding of the roadway on 23rd Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.
At town council Monday, council voted in favour of a resolution directing administration to prepare a report with respect to the proposed local improvement. The project, estimated at $404,000, would take place during the summer.
According to a summary from Chief Administrative Officer John Enns-Wind that circulated at council, this portion of 23rd Street “is one of the worst in town due to the condition of the asphalt and the condition of the base. The base does not comply with construction standards.”
This street was listed as the highest-priority in the 2020 budget that was approved in December. “We had identified our 10-year priority list and this is the top one,” said Enns-Wind at the meeting.
The proposal calls for rebuilding of the base, designing the road for safety given the large number of elementary students and vehicles on the street and placing new asphalt, curbs and gutters on the street.
Road rehab projects in Battleford are funded as local improvements, so people who live on the street will be picking up a larger portion. The intention is for the town to contribute 60 per cent, or $242,000, while property owners’ share would be $161,600, or 40 per cent. Of those property owners the share for Living Sky School Division/Battleford Central School would be $120,192, Home Hardware $27,273, the town lot $2,417 and the district court’s share is $12,119. The court is, however, status-exempt and their contribution would be a voluntary one.
The share for Battleford Central School is larger and includes half the share for Home Hardware and also half the court’s share, mainly to account for the street’s heavy use by the school’s teachers and staff and parents. Mayor Ames Leslie noted that the road includes a bus lane.
“It would have to be started once school’s out,” said Leslie. Because no underground pipes need to be replaced in the roadway construction, the project is one the town says it can get done this summer.
