Water Street work to start in April

Contract awarded to Dexter, public information sessions to be held later this month

The City of St. John’s is about to get moving on underground work required along the downtown artery of Water Street.

Council approved the first major tender award for the project Monday night, covering Queen Street to Bishop’s Cove, going to Dexter Construction with a bid of $4.27 million.

Pyramid Construction Ltd. and Platinum Construction Co. Ltd. also bid on the project, coming in at $5.18 million and $6.19 million, respectively.

The complete project to provide modern water and sewer infrastructure — including separating into storm and sanitary sewer where possible — is expected to take about five years, but the first part will get underway in early April.

There will be a related public information session on Tuesday, March 20 from 7-9 p.m. at the Foran Greene Room at city hall, and a second public meeting on Thursday, March 22 from 9-11 a.m.

The meetings will be a chance for residents to speak with city staff and get a good sense of what is coming, said Coun. Dave Lane.

While there will be use of “trenchless technology,” there is still a requirement for some excavation work, particularly at the intersections of Water Street and Queen Street, and Water Street and Bishop’s Cove.

The work will affect traffic flow, although Lane said there will be an effort to minimize the disruption, maintaining access for vehicles and pedestrians as much as possible.

Mayor Danny Breen said part of the effort will involve having the work start early and be completed largely outside of the highest tourist-traffic periods of July and August.