Estevan's beleaguered roads were a major topic of conversation in council chambers Monday night.
It was announced during council's regular meeting that the tenders on the rebuild of Highway 47 through the city were to close Tuesday. Mayor Roy Ludwig said council planned to make a quick decision on which company to go with and was hopeful that construction would begin as soon as possible.
"We would like to be moving immediately if we could because it is very important to us and the citizenry that we get moving on that," said Ludwig. "It will depend on who the low tender is and how quickly they can mobilize to Estevan and if it is our local contractor, how quick he can tie up his commitments and get at it as soon as possible. It is premature to say a date, but we would hope that we could get started in July."
The state of Highway 47 as it passes through Estevan has been a major source of frustration for drivers and one of embarrassment for the City since earlier this year. Although the road has been in need of repaving for years, a harsh winter expedited any plans the City may have had.
According to city manager Jim Puffalt's report, the City will repave Souris Avenue South from Fourth Street to Sixth Street; Souris Avenue North from King Street to Wellock Road; Sixth Street from Souris Avenue to 13th Avenue; 13th Avenue from Fourth Street to King Street and King Street from 13th Avenue to Cundall Drive.
The entire project is expected to cost over $4 million and Ludwig estimates that it could take up to 10 weeks to complete. If that timeline is correct, whoever does win the bid will need to begin soon if the job is to be completed in 2013. Ludwig said council is committed to completing the job this year and has "full confidence" it will be done.
"I don't see whoever gets the tender being that late that it won't be done this year," he said. "We are moving forward with the full intention of this being done before the colder weather sets in in October, we are hoping to see this done, absolutely."
Ludwig said four companies expressed interest in the job and he is hopeful that they will receive four to five tenders. However, he admitted they have been optimistic before only to see one bid submitted.
"I know in the past when we have expected a lot of interest, because we are so busy in the province we haven't got the interest that we thought we would get."
Aside from the ongoing headache that is Highway 47, the City is also attempting to keep up with the plethora of potholes in other areas of Estevan. It was noted the City has been receiving a lot of complaints regarding potholes and Ludwig said they would be a major focus in the coming weeks.
"Our summer students are in place and I think that will help the problem. The rain has not helped our issues any. I'm not trying to make excuses because it is very important that we get at these potholes right away, the citizens have made that very loud and clear."
To help speed along the repairs, Ludwig said the City is renting a piece of equipment specifically designed to fix potholes. He added the unit can be pulled behind a truck and only requires two people to operate.
"It has compressed on board and will (clean) the pothole out. It's got a hot oil mixture that we put in the pothole and it has an emulsion which is not the regular hot mix that we have been putting in potholes, it is supposed to be better for potholes. We are even looking at bringing in our little packer and packing it in and we are hoping it will be a one-time deal," said Ludwig who added that if the equipment is as good as advertised they would look into purchasing it.
Ludwig said if residents have a particular area they want to bring attention to they should call City Hall. He also asked the public to be respectful towards City staff, noting that they have had some incidents recently where some unkind gestures and words were directed towards employees.
