Infrastructure repair closing intersection for two weeks

A major intersection in Charlottetown will be shut down for two weeks to replace a storm channel – work the city says must be completed to prevent the road from collapsing. The channel is located on a diagonal under the “Queens Arms” intersection, where Capital Drive, North River Road and Lower Malpeque Road meet. Some sections of the storm channel are nearing the end of their lifespan and some seams are no longer fully sealed together.

Not replacing the storm channel could mean the possibility of pipe failure or erosion of the soil surrounding the storm channel, either of which could cause the road surface to collapse, the city stated in a release Wednesday.

To prevent this, the City of Charlottetown will be working with a contractor to replace the storm channel. As a result, a full closure of the intersection will begin Sunday, Sept. 17, and will be in place for approximately two weeks. A full closure will help expedite the number of days of construction.

“The city appreciates that this project will be a major disruption and frustration for area businesses and the travelling public, but it is necessary that this storm channel be replaced proactively instead of reacting after the storm pipe and, potentially, the road collapses,” said Coun. Terry Bernard, chairman of the city’s public works department.

“The two-week, full closure of the intersection will be very inconvenient, but it will allow the work to be done as quickly as possible. We’re talking about a 40-foot wide trench on a diagonal across the intersection. Trying to direct traffic around it would have been next to impossible and resulted in the work being drawn out for more than a month, versus the two weeks we’re expecting it to take.”

A 40-foot wide trench will be dug through the intersection to excavate the current pipe and install the new storm channel.