A number of major capital projects and road improvements are wrapping up in Kenora ahead of the winter season – partly due to the warm weather we’ve been seeing.
During a Special Meeting of Council on October 25, Municipal Engineer with the City of Kenora, Marco Vogrig, was asked to detail the status of a number of projects underway in the community.
The largest project, a $750,000 rehabilitation to Pinecone Drive after it crumbled away in May and members of that area brought their concerns to council, mostly wrapped up last week. Vogrig says crews are waiting to install some guide wire along the sides, but the roadway and slopes are fixed.
Elsewhere, paving projects continue on Ninth Street North and Second Avenue North in front of the Rec Centre. Both projects received their first layer of asphalt last week, and the city’s hoping both roadways will be paved by the end of the week.
Meanwhile, work on Railway Street is progressing but is still a ways off. Vogrig says concrete pours are in progress as a step prior to paving work, and more pours are expected over the next couple of weeks. Underground streetlight work is complete, and the road should see a layer of new asphalt soon.
In Lakeside, crews are finishing up the underground work for a sewer and water project on Seventh Avenue South. Vogrig says concrete work is complete and sidewalks are being worked on over the next couple of weeks, but crews may or may not be able to repave the road ahead of freeze-up.
Chief Administrative Officer, Kyle Attanasio, notes crews have been blessed by the favourable weather recently in the region, and he feels that staff are going to be able to get the work done ahead of the winter if the warm weather continues.
Vogrig adds that two more projects are almost complete and are just waiting for a couple of finishing touches.
Surface repair work is complete on Second Street South, and crews are just waiting to re-install the streetlight poles. On Highway 17 East near the Days Inn, crews just need some communication companies to move some wires around, and work is roughly 90 per cent complete.