Despite being hindered by rain throughout the fall, the City of Prince Albert was able to wrap up its last few street-paving projects on Tuesday.
Workers put the finishing touches on new asphalt at Dier Rd on the East end of Prince Albert, officially ending the 2018 construction season. The city still has a few minor projects, most notably on the Rotary Trail, but Nykol Miller, Prince Albert’s capital projects manager, said the heavy work is done.
“Even with the weather that we have had this fall, the city was able to get most of the projects completed that were forecast to be completed in 2018,” Miller said on Tuesday. “The paving constructors are currently completing the last piece of roadway that was on the roadway program.”
Miller said the city’s 2018 paving budget is spent, meaning there will be no new projects started this year, even if good weather continues into November. There are a few carry over projects which were given temporary patching. Miller said those roads will be at the top of the queue.
“At this current time we don’t have any plans to start on any 2019 projects,” she explained. “The budget that was allowed for 2018, we’re anticipating that will have reached our target goals, so we won’t have any remaining funding to proceed with any 2019 projects.”
This year’s progress marks a significant improvement over previous summers. In November 2015, residents along Eighth and Ninth Street East were left with missing boulevards and unpaved sidewalks after the city failed to complete roadwork before winter set in.
Then Ward 3 Coun. Lee Atkinson said city council needed a more realistic goal when it came to summer road construction.
This year, Mayor Greg Dionne attempted to get out ahead of any potential problems. He introduced a motion that barred city workers from opening any new construction projects this fall.
