The restoration work for the medians on Souris Avenue North is slated to be finished next month.
Rod March, the parks manager for the City of Estevan, said they have some work remaining on the paving stones that line the outer edges of the medians. He hopes they can be finished in early May.
“Once that’s done, we’re going to be doing the earthworks, putting in some irrigation systems, which are portable irrigation systems, and then the turf or sod will be arriving in the beginning of June,” said March.
They expect the turf will be installed and the flowers will be planted by June 10, at which time the project will be completed.
The median restoration project began last year. Once the snow cleared and the temperatures warmed up, the contractor was out working again.
Paving stones were selected for the project because it’s easy to clean debris, such as sand that’s applied on roads during the winter. They’re also easy to breach if there’s a sewer or a water break.
“I would like to carry on this theme in different areas around the city where there is buildup of debris, not only from street sweepers, but where there’s debris from mud coming off trucks,” said March. “You can see that buildup now on different areas along King Street. So we have this type of hard, engineered product down there, it’s very easy to keep clean, and it will look a lot nicer in time.”
March would like to see hard-engineered products, such as paving stones, that are four or five feet along different areas of the city, so that they’re easy to keep clean, and they don’t have to worry about weeds.
“I think paving stones are an economical choice,” he said.
The public has been very receptive to the project.
“Even the contractors have said that a lot of people stop by and say a lot of positive things,” said March.
A total cost wasn’t immediately available, since work started last year and has carried over into the spring. It will be released once the project is completed.
March said he is looking forward to having the project finished. It’s been a priority for city council as part of the beautification efforts in the community. The upcoming Saskatchewan Summer Games in Estevan didn’t influence their desire to have the work finished, but he is excited that it will be nice and green when the Games start in July.
