Smooth sailing nears on city roads as construction ends

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This article was published 04/11/2021 (1184 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CONSTRUCTION that’s kept roads across the city closed throughout the warm months is set to come to a close on schedule in mid-November.

More than 150 construction projects were undertaken in Winnipeg this year. As many wrap up, a few have yet to start: the westbound curb lane of Notre Dame Avenue from Portage Avenue to King Street, for example, is set to close Nov. 8 and reopen Nov. 12.

The City of Winnipeg has had a “very productive” construction year and is set to meet scheduled completion dates, a spokesman said Wednesday.

“Road construction typically wraps up in November once temperatures drop consistently below zero degrees and we start to receive snow cover,” he said in an email.

The city said more than 125 kilometres and $152.2 million in construction was scheduled this year. That’s well above what was spent in 2019 and 2020, which had investments of $86.4 million and $130.3 million, respectively.

Chochy’s Pawn & Swap Shop sits directly alongside a small section of Selkirk Avenue that’s been under construction for months. Since Sept. 13, the eastbound lanes have been closed, with both directions of traffic being maintained in the westbound lanes.

Employee Jeff Plantje said the business received a letter from the city in April explaining the situation before construction began, and it looked like work was set to finish on schedule.

“It was actually really good, it was a complete breakdown of what they were going to do and how long it was going to last, and they said they figured they’d be done in early, mid-November… It’s a good summer for (construction), not a lot of rain,” he said.

There wasn’t much concern on the pawn shop’s end when the construction notice arrived, Plantje said.

“People are going to come see us regardless,” he said. “Yeah, it was a pain for them to park farther away… We’re a fairly unique business — they still need their dough, so they’re going to make the effort.”

He called city construction at his workplace front door “a mild annoyance at worst… They’re ripping up concrete, they’re out there vibrating the road now, but it doesn’t prevent us from doing business.”

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca