Poor street conditions leads to busier than expected construction start

Swift Current motorists had a busy month of May negotiating lane closures and traffic detours during a busier than anticipated spring construction season.

Swift Current’s annual paving program began on May 4, with crews originally starting with spot repairs and filling potholes which developed during a difficult winter season for city streets.

Mitch Minken, the City of Swift Current’s General Manager of Infrastructure and Operations, admitted the street patching work was more extensive than anticipated.

“We had a pretty rough winter in terms of damage to the streets so yes we’re looking at something that’s at least 50 per cent more than usual, maybe as much as double the usual type of repair work that we’re doing. We’re just continuing to evaluate it right now as to where we are and what our options are,” Minken said following the May 19 Swift Current City Council meeting.

With all the other paving projects which are part of the spring schedule, Minken admitted this additional work could be more extensive that previously planned for.

“We may be looking at doing a little bit larger repair work than just patching because in some places we’re patching on top of patching so it’s time to do some work.”

This additional work will have a yet to be determined impact on the city budget.

“We haven’t quite got there. It’s going to mean that we’re going to have to re-evaluate some of where we are in our budget. And we may have to work at transferring some funds from other areas over into the patching.”

The biggest initial project is the intersection realignment project at Battleford Trail and Central Ave. which began on May 11. Motorists have already experienced periodic closures and traffic re-routing during this major project. When completed the intersection will be safer thanks to improved sight lines and better traffic flow.

The first phase of the project, which is scheduled to be completed by June 1, involves median and road work on the centre and east portion of the intersection. The second phase, occurring during the month of June, will see the completion of median and road work on the west portion of the intersection.

Starting on June 1, paving crews will shift their focus to the 11th Ave. N.W. full rehabilitation project which will involve a realignment of the roadway and improvements to the Transcanada Highway off and on ramps plus the North and South Service Roads. Traffic restrictions will be announced on City of Swift Current social media channels when traffic flows are impacted.