With winter knocking on the door, the City of Estevan will soon be forced to put a couple of its larger projects on hold until the spring.
Mayor Roy Ludwig said neither the parking lot of the Estevan Leisure Centre or the Wellock Road extension will be completed before the current construction season ends. He noted that in both cases crews will go as long as the weather permits and any outstanding work will be completed in the spring.
When asked specifically about the parking lot, Ludwig admitted the job has taken much longer than they would have liked.
"We'll leave it in the position where it will be passable and usable," he said. "We have the one lift (of asphalt) to do in some areas and some curbing to put in and the first layer to put in others.
"I know we have talked about this far too long and I can say at this time that come spring we will get it finished, finally, and I know that we will all be happy to see that."
Though it has not garnered anywhere near the same amount of attention as the leisure centre parking lot, the extension of Wellock Road is a significant bit of work for the City.
The extension will eventually allow Wellock to run from Highway 47 to Sister Roddy Road but, more importantly it will serve as the main feeder street for the new neighbourhood that has been proposed by Essex Development. It will also be the feeder street for the City's new development, which currently goes by the name of Parcel F.
Ludwig said there will be a gravel surface to drive on throughout the winter and they will complete the project in the spring. He added the lack of a finished road will not impede Essex as they begin servicing their land on the north side of Wellock.
"The Essex sanitary sewer main that they need for their development will probably be tendered within the next month or so," Ludwig said. "That will go through that process and most of the waterline hookups that we had to complete along Wellock have been done so it will just be the finished roadway that we have to complete."
Parcel F, which is located on land the City purchased from St. Joseph's Hospital, is located south of Wellock Road. Ludwig noted there are 21 lots in Parcel F but said they are not ready for sale at this time.
Asked if having to push the completion of these projects to 2014 will set the City further back, Ludwig said they had anticipated this possibility and planned accordingly.
"We will not be doing as much work as maybe we had previously planned. We will be looking at finishing Highway 47 south but as far as any other large projects, we won't be looking at those at this juncture."
