With the 2018 budget now approved, the Town would like to announce our street maintenance plans for 2018.
During many public consultations, both formal and informal, Council understands that citizen want to see an improvement to our roadways. Over the past several years, the Public Works department has made a consistent effort to do maintenance to extend the lifespan of some of our medium-wear streets. Patching and re-capping is a cost-effective maintenance solution that extends the life span of our roads for 10-12 years before further maintenance is required, minimizing the amount of future investment.
Council has approved the patching and re-capping of the following areas of town in 2018:
- 9th avenue from Main Street to King Street (including rolled curb and gutter on the north side)
- 1st street east from Highway 7 to 1st Avenue
The above blocks were selected for this year due to being high-traffic and close to the elementary school. The budgeted amount for these two projects is $120,000. Street maintenance will occur in the summer months.
In addition to the above project, Council has maintained their annual street maintenance budget of $120,000 for patch paving (potholes) done by the Public Works department. Patch paving is done one year following a water break, once the ground has had time to settle. That brings the total budgeted investment for street maintenance in 2018 to $240,000.
Council is considering a large paving project for 2019. While the cost to re-cap a block is estimated at roughly $50,000, a full re-paving sits at roughly $150,000 a block. If approved, the 2019 paving program will see a larger financial investment in remedying the heavy-wear streets that would not benefit from maintenance efforts like re-capping.