Carol Baldwin
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Wakaw Recorder
On Saturday, March 8th, the Town of Wakaw closed the 200 Block of 1st Street South until further notice.
Last week, the town contacted businesses located on 1st Street South to update them on the efforts to mitigate the water pooling in the street in the 100 and 200 blocks. The public works crew have been working to create trenches where possible, and ASL was on site the last week of February to assess and plan for further action.
The Town understood that the melting “season” would potentially present situations like these, depending on the snowfall, warming temperatures, and the speed of the warming conditions. In preparation, as in previous years, public works removed a large amount of snow from the roadway itself during the winter and have been busy removing snow from surrounding streets to reduce the amount of water potentially running toward 1st Street. However, the street in front of the businesses took on the appearance of a swamp regardless.
On January 23, town representatives met with Carolynn Wright of Catterall & Wright and Drew Mitchell of ASL. This meeting started the preparations for the upcoming spring and the completion of the 1st Street South project.
After months of snowstorms and freezing temperatures, warming temperatures bring changes to manmade ground infrastructure. Soil settles and compacts, and the settling becomes evident once the frost melts. The settlement that has occurred already and will continue as the ground thaws and dries is a bonus to the final stages of the project and is a helpful step in creating a high-quality final product, as it should make the chance of further settlement next winter less likely. However, freezing and thawing cycles often cause the pavement to expand and contract, leading to cracks and potholes, a reality that comes with living in Canada.
ASL has identified the first week of May as the start of the Spring construction season, with May 5th as the start of construction for the final parts of the project in the following sequence of work: first the gravel base will be touched up after winter and additional gravel base will be added where necessary due to settling that occurred through the winter and spring; next the concrete, which includes sidewalks, will be installed by Sautner Concrete Services and street light replacement; next the pavement/asphalt will be laid, and then finally the unit pavers will be installed.
Fences are not planned to be installed at this time as there will be no deep excavations, but this will be revisited if required.
The concrete work will require the sidewalks to be closed. Each block will be done separately and during the week as the subcontractor works on weekdays. All contractors have been reminded, with reinforced statements from Catterall & Wright, of the need to be mindful of the business community’s busy season. May long weekend being the start-up to the lake season, and the influx of visitors as well as on the weekends coming to the Farmer’s Market and the Wheatland Express Excursion Train, means more people coping with the construction.
When it is time to replace the streetlights, ASL, SaskPower, and the Town will collaborate to remove the existing lights and install new ones. Their goal is to minimize the number of nights without lighting. They will make every effort to reduce the duration of darkness as much as possible.
The goal is to have the construction season start May 5th, but nature will dictate this. Construction projects are subject to numerous variables, and one of the most unpredictable is the weather. Spring’s unpredictable nature can quickly turn a construction site into a muddy mess similar to what currently exists. Excess moisture can cause delays by making it difficult to move in heavy equipment while maintaining the integrity of the surface established before winter. ASL strives to minimize gaps between phases of its crews, and Catterall & Wright, ASL, the sub-contractors, and the Town will continue to make every effort to minimize delays where opportunities lie within their abilities.
As with any construction project, there are always inconveniences. This project will ultimately provide the town’s residents and its visitors with a safer and more pleasant business area experience. Once completed, people and businesses will be able to better envisage what further can be done to invigorate this core area.
