Jasper Ave. closing for two blocks on weekend

Jasper Avenue will be closed to traffic this weekend between 100th Street and 102nd Street so the second half of the reconstruction project can begin.

The road is being shut at 7 p.m. Friday to allow vehicles to be directed to the two lanes on the north side of Jasper from the south side when travel resumes at 6 a.m. Monday, construction project manager Nathan Stelmach says.

At the same time, sidewalks along this entire stretch are reopening, although some sections still need work, he said Tuesday.

The north sidewalk was supposed to be finished by the end of March.

“It’s mostly just the snowfall late in March. We had a fair amount of snowfall through January and February as well,” Stelmach said.

“It wasn’t as cold as it could have been, but we had a lot of snow, which slows things down.”

Crews will still need to attend to side streets, such as this spring replacing the demolished sidewalk on the west side of 100th Street that blocks one lane for half a block, Stelmach said.

Weather has already disrupted the schedule of the $44-million project, which will repair and waterproof the Central LRT station roof, widen the sidewalks, remove the 1980s concrete medians and improve the streetscape.

All four lanes of Jasper were originally planned to be used over the winter until work began on the north side this spring, but rain, snow and unexpected subsurface obstacles meant this idea had to be abandoned.

The road is still scheduled to be finished in October, with detoured bus routes returning to Jasper on Oct. 31, Stelmach said.