Estevan city council has awarded a pair of tenders for the pathway and sidewalk project that will be happening this summer, with support from the provincial and federal governments.
The sidewalks tender, which will include parts of Kensington Avenue, Fourth Street, Perkins Street and Wellock Road, was awarded to Signature West Contractors for $988,485, plus tax. The company is located just outside of Edmonton.
This will help connect the north side of the city with the south. As part of this project, approximately 2,100 metres of concrete sidewalk is to be installed.
The other tender is for asphalt concrete for pathways. Genco Asphalt was awarded an $836,000 tender for the north pathway, and a tender worth slightly more than $1 million for the south, for a total value of approximately $1.8 million.
Rod March, the manager of parks and facilities for the City of Estevan, said the proposed undertaking is to consist of the following activities: strip top soil, compact and prepare subgrade, supply and install 150 millimetres of granular material, and supply and install 60 millimetres of concrete asphalt.
Total length of the asphalt pathway is 12.55 kilometres.
During the meeting, city engineer Kiflom Weldeab said the city approached Signature West Contractors about references, because this was the first time the city has dealt with them. The references came back positive.
Their bid was considerably lower than the other two companies.
Councillor Lindsay Clark wanted to know if there were other tenders that were needed for the project, as the tenders are for approximately $2.8 million in a $3.8 million project.
March said there would be, as there are a couple of issues that need to be worked out, such as a crossing underneath the Long Creek Railroad, and pedestrian crossings around the creek in that same valley.
“Those two are big ticket items, but we’re confident we’re still within our range here,” said March.
Councillor Kirsten Walliser noted there has been a lot of enthusiasm in the community for the pathway and sidewalk project, particularly after a federal announcement was made about the funding. But she wanted to know when a map would be released now that the tendering process has been finished.
March pointed out that after the request for tenders was issued, a few changes had to be made, and he lauded the engineering staff for their help on the project. Those changes prevented them from releasing the map.
The map will need to be released as part of the funding the city received.
Both the sidewalk and pathway projects are in partnership with the provincial and federal governments through the COVID-19 Resiliency Stream.
They are to start on July 5, with a completion date set for Sept. 17, however, if more time than planned is required due to weather or other events the schedule will be reset accordingly.
