By battlefordsNOW

Downtown construction schedule winding down

Oct 6, 2017 | 3:00 PM

The summer’s downtown construction is nearing its end. 

Construction on the “downtown T” of 101 St. from 11 Ave. 12 Ave., and on 12 Ave. from 100 St. to 102 St. started in June. City administration planned a ribbon cutting ceremony for Oct. 16 to officially open the area to residents travelling by foot and car.

The project didn’t come without difficulties as there were delays in construction. The city recently pushed the completion date of Oct. 6 back 10 days, but city manager Jim Puffalt said the delay of just over a week was actually a win for the city.

“On a job this size that’s really good,” Puffalt said. “Considering the all the work we had to do … it wasn’t just underground work. We had to redo sidewalks, concrete and brickwork. I think our engineering and the contractors did a really good job.”

Puffalt said in addition the city wasn’t simply replacing what was there before as they had to change the street to meet the downtown revitalization plan guidelines.

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The city manager said delays in construction work do not cost the city because it pays for the whole job at once. He added there are penalties which can be applied to the contractor if the job goes too far past the deadline, but doesn’t believe they are warranted in this case.

“You can’t control weather and you have to be careful on the penalties,” Puffalt said. “If you’re too stringent then companies will bid to cover off weather factors and things that are out of their control. If they risk being penalized then they’ll bid that. So in the end we’ll end up paying more, opposed to being reasonable.”

Puffalt added the downtown was busy over the summer with organized events, including the Street Festival, which affected construction work. 

The streets are currently being paved and Puffalt said he doesn’t expect any setbacks so long as the weather holds up. 
 

 greg.higgins@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @realgreghiggins