Heavy rains may have caused frequent delays for the completion of the Kensington Avenue North project, but it is now virtually complete and ready to open.
City engineer Kiflom Weldeab, speaking with the Mercury on Monday afternoon, said they have to tidy up some small debris from the surface of the rebuilt road that was left over from construction, but the road should be open very soon.
The final component of the project was building up the embankments along the road. They were finished at the end of last week. Weldeab said they could have removed the debris and opened the road on Monday, but they were tied up with other tasks stemming from the heavy rains that hit Estevan on Sunday.
Repairs to Kensington Avenue North started in early April, but the frequent and occasionally heavy rains caused delays. Improvements were from north of King Street to the north city limits.
It was tackled this year since it will be a key road when Estevan hosts the 2016 Saskatchewan Summer Games.
The next significant road rebuild project for the city is the southern portion of Milne Crescent. Crews arrived on the site in late June, and they started pouring concrete for the curbs, gutters and sidewalks last week, but their efforts were interrupted because of the excessive moisture in the city.
“They hope to continue once things dry up,” said Weldeab.
Once the concrete work is finished, the crews will open up the roadway, excavate some material and bring in more base and sub-base. Then they will apply the asphalt.
The northern half of Milne Crescent was completed in 2011. The southern half has been on the books since then, but the repairs have been shelved several times.
Weldeab said it’s hard to forecast when Milne will be finished. One day of rain can set them back for a week.
“If you’re trying to work under excessive moisture, it means more damage can be done, so basically, you have to let it dry,” said Weldeab.
The west portion of Milne Crescent hasn’t caused the city as many problems as the north side did before the resurfacing five years ago, or as the south part has in the past few years. So Weldeab said they don’t have any plans to resurface it soon.
