Constructive thoughts for construction zones

Opinion

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This article was published 11/09/2021 (1238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Drivers of reasonable demeanour are patient when their progress is held up by construction workers who are hard at work. Road repairs must be done sometime.

But even drivers of taciturn temperament shake their heads with exasperation when it turns out the traffic jam is caused by a construction zone that is deserted. There’s evidence work has begun, perhaps asphalt is torn up, but the site is devoid of workers even though barricades continue to close a lane and back up traffic for blocks.

In such instances, it’s misleading for road signs to say “Construction ahead,” when no construction is underway. It would be more accurate for signs to say “Abandoned construction site ahead.”

When it happens once, drivers might assume the workers are on a coffee break, but when our habitual driving pattern bring us past the same sites repeatedly and there remains no evidence of hardhat action for days or weeks, the question looms: why don’t they finish the job and stop messing with traffic?

It’s small consolation that the problem is not limited to Winnipeg. Cities everywhere have struggled with the challenge of completing roadwork promptly to minimize disruption to traffic. Some are better at it than Winnipeg.

Many cities use 24-7 construction when it’s practical, so work is done at night when traffic is lighter. Some incentivize construction companies with bonuses or penalties to get jobs done faster.

Winnipeg is experimenting with such innovations among the 150 road renewal projects it’s undertaken this season. For example, a contractor doing sidewalk work on Corydon Avenue currently gets a bonus if the work is done by a specified date, but has to construct a temporary sidewalk if it’s not completed before the snow flies.

The Winnipeg public works department has also said it will allow night-time construction on some jobs to speed completion, but as all of us who drive at night know, in this city, construction work under the lights is as rare as face masks at a house party in Winkler.

In Winnipeg, many road crews seem to keep bankers’ hours. On weekends, it’s unusual to drive past a site where crews are working. On Winnipeg’s long summer evenings, work may continue at a few sites, but most are abandoned even though there is still lots of daylight left to continue work.

No wonder road work in Winnipeg seems to stretch on forever.

Canadian cities that allow and encourage 24-7 road-construction work for some projects include Toronto, Halifax, Edmonton, Vancouver, Saskatoon and Regina.

These cities have learned, however, that extended hours are a mixed blessing. When crews work at night and on weekends, people in residential areas get annoyed by the roar of diesel engines and rat-ta-tat of jackhammers.

Also, construction workers worry about a greater risk of getting hit by cars at night because drivers have reduced visibility, although the Illinois Department of Transportation found the opposite: road workers are actually safer at night because there are far fewer vehicles on the roads.

Another factor that would concern a budget-strapped city like Winnipeg is the higher cost of after-hour road work, when workers are paid shift premiums. Night work also costs more because it requires extra equipment, such as powerful lighting and generators and fuel to run the lights.

One reason why Winnipeg sites are often deserted, even during the prime working hours, is that crews are shifted to different sites. They may be assigned to leave an initial job because of weather, such as when heavy rain makes dirt hard to handle. Other work interruptions include waiting to co-ordinate with utilities such as hydro or water, waiting for government inspections, or waiting for supplies to be delivered.

Such reasons are understandable but, unfortunately, drivers fuming in a traffic jam don’t know the reasons.

The City of Winnipeg website offers basic details of all road construction in an online map that is commendably easy to use. Hover a cursor over the site of any construction project, and it describes the type of work, contractors’ information and the percentage of work completed.

But as far as information that drivers most want — “When will they reopen this street so I can stop being late for work and get the boss off my back?” — the city’s website is vague at best. The time frame for individual road projects is commonly “to be determined,” or as unhelpful as “start in spring, end in fall.”

In the end, drivers stuck in traffic have little choice but to find positive ways to use the unexpected delay. Perhaps we can count the reasons we’re glad we don’t live in Afghanistan, where a traffic delay is the least of their worries.

carl.degurse@freepress.mb.ca

Carl DeGurse is a member of the Free Press editorial board.