Having survived winter driving conditions and pothole season, Woolwich drivers can now brace themselves for that summertime staple: construction.
Setting up for a season of detours, delays and damnations, township council this week awarded a $2.1-million contract for paving work. Cox Construction Ltd. was the lowest of six bids submitted in the tendering process.
On tap for hot-mix resurfacing are two kilometres of Three Bridges Road (from Lobsinger Line to Henry Street), and 500 metres of Henry Street (from Three Bridges Road to the St. Jacobs settlement boundary). In Elmira, it’s Union Street from Oriole Parkway East to South Field Drive.
Slated for maintenance paving are Westview Court in Floradale and Howard Avenue in Elmira from Union Street to the railway tracks.
The township also plans to convert Vance Road from gravel to a hard-top surface.
The winning tender came in under budget, director of infrastructure services Jared Puppe told councillors meeting Tuesday night.
“They were all competitive bids,” he said, noting the lower price allowed for the inclusion of the Howard Avenue project, which will restore access to that area. It’s a shared project to be paid for by the township, the Region of Waterloo and the Waterloo Central Railway, which operates a drop-off location there.
Work on the various projects is expected to begin May 22, with all of the work having to be completed by September 29.
Pointing out that one of the bidders was in the township, Coun. Nathan Cadeau asked if environmental considerations – in this case, proximity to the jobsites – were part of the process, perhaps “reducing the carbon footprint.”
Puppe replied that such issues were not part of the requirements set out in the tendering process.
“I don’t know how we would work that,” he said, though noting that given trucking and fuel costs are a big component, companies would factor distances into their bids. The lower those costs, the more competitive the pricing.
Also this week, council awarded a tender for road work in Maryhill. Drexler Construction Ltd. will receive $1.8 million to carry out the reconstruction of Halter Avenue, Isley Drive and Notre Dame Avenue.
The firm submitted the lowest of six bids.
The project will see the replacement of the existing watermain, complete road base and
pavement structure, roadside ditching along sections of Halter Avenue, Isley Drive and Notre Dame Avenue, as there are active sump pump outlet locations throughout those stretches of road which will be discharged to the roadside ditch.
Work could start by June 12, and must be wrapped up by October 27, Puppe noted.
Coun. Bonnie Bryant, noting that the previous work done in 2014 created problems with ditches not draining properly, asked if this year’s work would solve those problems.
She noted she’s had complaints from some residents, who’ve indicated some ditches will retain water instead of funnelling it away. Older residents are particularly considered about maintenance issues, she added.
“We don’t want it to turn into an overgrown mess,” she said of the flooded ditches.
Puppe said the project would be dealing with the problem areas that have been identified.