Shane Magee/NNSL photo
Get ready to idle. Construction season is about to start on multiple streets throughout the city.
Wendy Alexander, the city's manager of public works, said a “very busy” construction season will include road closures, detours and longer commutes.
Millions of dollars of water, sewer and paving projects are expected to get underway over the next two weeks.
Franklin Avenue between Norseman Drive and Forrest Drive will be reduced from four lanes to two as a sewer pipe is replaced starting the week of May 29. The work will last “for most of the summer,” Alexander said. This forms part of two years of construction planned between Norseman and 57 Street.
Stacks of black pipes in the Yellowknife Community Arena parking lot will replace corrugated metal pipes installed in the 1970s.
“It's in pretty rough shape and definitely needs replacement,” Alexander said.
On Monday, city staff recommended council award the $2.7-million paving contract for the street to NWT Construction, as it was the only bidder for the work.
“It is going to be full-on, there’s a lot of projects underway,” said senior administrative officer Sheila Bassi-Kellett about the construction planned this year while introducing the contract which still needs to be approved by council.
Adding to potential traffic headaches this summer will be paving work on Kam Lake Road between Finlayson Drive and Coronation Drive that will likely reduce it to one lane.
Contractor ACE Enterprises Ltd. is expected to start the work next week with construction taking up to two months.
Traffic lights at the intersection of Finlayson and Kam Lake Road will be added and a three metre wide multi-use pathway will be installed on a stretch of Kam Lake Road.
Water and sewer work is planned for Finlayson between Hordal Road and Mandeville Drive. That section starts next week. A second section will be near Calder Crescent near the intersection with Horton Crescent. The stretches of Finlayson will be paved next year.
That's expected to close the portion of Finlayson to all traffic, Alexander said. The work will take up to two weeks though it's not yet clear when it will start.
Updates on construction will be posted to the city's website and its social media pages. Changes to bus routes and stop will also be on the Find my Bus section of the PingStreet app.
Elsewhere, work will take place on 51 and 52 streets between 51 Avenue and 52 Avenue.
Con Road from 54 Street to Rycon Drive will be paved, as water and sewer work was carried out last year.