BOMBSHELL ADMISSION
City apologizes after admitting testing showed asphalt problems on Red Hill Parkway
The city has revealed asphalt friction testing as far back as 2013 on the collisionprone Red Hill Valley Parkway suggested the roadway is more slippery than it should be.
The bombshell admission is a reversal of past assurances given to councillors and the public after a 2017 award-winning Spectator investigation looked at why the seven-kilometre parkway sees twice as many crashes than the adjoining east-west Linc.
Acting city manager Mike Zegarac issued an unprecedented apology to the public and councillors following a latenight closed meeting at city hall before explaining a “new leadership team” discovered the previously unknown consulting report during an audit in late 2018.
The Spectator requested city friction test studies last October via a freedom of information request, but the city has not yet provided the information.
Anecdotal motorist complaints about “slippery” asphalt have plagued the parkway for years. The city has repeatedly said friction tests since 2015 were “inconclusive” – but nonetheless decided last year to speed up a $15-million, full repaving of the parkway. The work will now be “expedited” to start a soon as possible this spring, said public works head Dan McKinnon. Councillors also immediately voted Wednesday to cut the Red Hill speed limit to 80 km/h between Greenhill Avenue and the QEW as a “precautionary measure” and order an audit of the “missing” friction test fiasco.
As late as Tuesday, a city report still said three different parkway asphalt tests in 2017 showed results described in various cases as inconclusive, generally good or average-to-medium. But the 2013 friction test, by contrast, found “localized sections with quite low friction values” that prompted Tradewind Scientific to recommend “more investigatory work.”
Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he and councillors are “disappointed” to learn so belatedly about the existence of the report. That’s why council ordered an audit to “get to the bottom” of what happened. The belated revelation potentially leaves the city open to lawsuits over Red Hill safety.