The Rural Municipality of Hanover is set to begin its most expensive road reconstruction project of the summer.
Wes Fehr is Manager of Works and Operations. He says crews will be reconstructing Road 32E or Bristol Road, between Road 34N and Road 35N. The work is expected to start on Monday and last about two weeks. According to Fehr, they will do a full two-foot excavation, with geotextile, and then build it back up for the full mile.
"The contractor will be posting up signs and barricades for traffic control through that area," says Fehr.
He notes residents living along that mile should have received a letter to explain the project. Fehr says residents will have access from one side or the other for the duration of the project.
Friesen Hauling is doing the work at a cost of $506,000.
Then, possibly later this week, crews will begin work on reconstructing Road 31E, starting at Road 33N and going south for half a mile. Fehr says this is a bit of a different project as crews will focus mostly on building up that road.
"The elevation of that road will change to some degree," he says. "Which will bring it up out of the water table and hopefully have a better base to carry more traffic on that one as well."
Friesen Hauling is also doing this project. Fehr says the project came in at $226,950, and the work is expected to take about one week.
Later this summer, a portion of Road 35N, or McKenzie Avenue will be rebuilt. Fehr says they are planning to open up about a quarter of a mile from Road 31E and then going east. He explains that crews will be digging out about five feet of road in order to remove some of the subsoil. He notes work should start around the second week of August, lasting one to two weeks. Friesen Hauling is also doing this project at a cost of about $184,860.
Fehr says one final project will see some asphalt overlay work done along Road 42N, running east of Highway 12. He notes this is a cost-shared project with the Rural Municipality of Ste. Anne, with each RM contributing $25,000.
"Expecting to hopefully get that project off the ground probably in September at some time," he says. "We are working with pricing and contractors currently."
Fehr says he is hoping to have things finalized within the next couple of weeks.
Meanwhile, Fehr asks for patience from motorists and residents living in the areas of these construction projects.
"We will try and accommodate traffic through there as best we can," he says. "But there will be some delays as far as residents getting in and out on occasion, so just be aware of that."
According to Fehr, the RM of Hanover budgeted $1,115,000 for road construction projects this year, and the tenders came in at $1,050,000. He notes the weather has been favourable for projects thus far, with one project already complete; that was the reconstruction of Westland Drive, which runs past the RM office. Fehr says the project was budgeted at $65,000 but ended up costing about $86,800. This was because of extra excavation work that was needed.