THUNDER BAY -- The City of Thunder Bay and construction companies are working to complete several road projects before winter forces a shutdown.
Kayla Dixon, Director of Engineering and Operations for the city, says crews made good progress over the last couple of weeks on a number of projects including ones on Ford Street, Isabella Street, McGill Crescent and Wardrope Avenue.
However, there are still some streets where construction has not been completed, and the city is working with companies on priorities for the weeks ahead.
"As we would expect near the end of the season, contractors are pushing hard to get things done," Dixon said in an interview with tbnewswatch.com on Friday.
The city's aim is to get a second coat of asphalt on collector and arterial streets where work is still underway.
At other locations, there will only be time to lay down one coat of asphalt, establishing a hard surface for traffic over the winter and leaving completion until next year.
Outstanding projects in residential areas include Banning Street, Egan Street and Black Bay Road.
Dixon said those are three projects where a base layer of asphalt will be in place by mid-November when work is expected to wrap up for the season.
However, if the weather turns mild again, in some instances contractors may be able to apply a second coat before winter.
There are also a number of Low Impact Developments still to be completed.
"All the natural grasses, etc. that will be planted in those have finally arrived, so we expect those to be completed this season as well," Dixon said.
Low Impact Development is a land planning and engineering design approach aimed at maintaining and enhancing the movement, distribution, and quality of local rainwater runoff.
Local residents may be familiar with previous LID stormwater management projects on Memorial Avenue near D & R Sporting Goods and at Beverly and High Streets.
Locations on Cuyler, James and MacDougall Streets are among the newest areas of Thunder Bay where LIDs are being used to encourage stormwater to infiltrate the ground, thereby reducing waterflows.
On the whole, Dixon said, she's satisfied with the performance of the city's contractors this year.
"For sure. We had lots of contracts that finished early this year, actually, and now we're making our way through, and we always see this push at the end of October."
One relatively short but high-profile project is scheduled to be started and finished in the coming week.
Rehabilitation of the CNR crossing on Memorial Avenue will result in the closure of Memorial to traffic between the Harbour Expressway and Isabel Street.
Starting Monday, October 30, through traffic will be detoured to Fort William Road, but there will still be access to businesses within the closure limits.
The project is expected to wrap up by Saturday, November 4.
