It was alternating traffic on 62nd Avenue west of Highway 97 as crews install storm sewers and resurface the road up to Osoyoos Secondary School. The work is scheduled to be completed before the new school year. (Richard McGuire photo)
Town council is holding a special open meeting this Thursday morning to consider extending the road construction on 62nd Avenue by an additional 200 metres.
This is just one of several ongoing and upcoming public works projects the town is undertaking.
Work began in early July on reconstruction of the road from Highway 97 to Osoyoos Secondary School and in recent weeks traffic has often been reduced to a single lane in alternating directions.
The original contract with H & M Excavating Ltd. called for the new pavement to stop at the entrance to the tennis courts area.
The company was asked to quote on an additional 200 metres, which would extend the road reconstruction beyond the school.
In a memo to council, Jim Dinwoodie, director of operational services (public works), said the cost of the proposed extension is $101,038, which is close to an estimate by True Consulting, which does planning and engineering consulting for the town.
“It should be noted that the condition of this additional 200 metres of roadway is just as poor as the section that has already been removed,” Dinwoodie wrote, as he recommended that council approve the proposal.
The funding for the extra roadway could be obtained from cost savings on other projects and by delaying three smaller projects until the 2019 budget, Dinwoodie said.
The deferred projects include lake access path maintenance, replacing trees at the marina and installing stairs at the south end of Gyro Park.
In making the recommendation, Dinwoodie pointed out that the road would provide improved access to the high school, Dividend Ridge subdivision and the Golf Course.
Dinwoodie asked that council approve awarding this contract as soon as possible so that the work can be completed before the Sept. 4 start of the new school year.
The work currently being undertaken on 62nd Avenue includes local storm sewer installations of catch basins, drywells and perforated pipe sections. It also includes removal of the existing road surfaces and replacement with new asphalt and base gravels, as well as 240 metres of asphalt curbing.
As tourists fill the town during the busy summer season, this is the only currently active road project in town, but other projects will be coming in the fall.
Dinwoodie said there are also a couple small projects planned for this summer – paving the main interior loop at Osoyoos Lakeview Cemetery and continuing some minor roadwork on Finch Crescent that was started earlier this year.
Realignment of the intersection at Kingfisher Drive and 89th Street is still scheduled to begin on Sept. 4, Dinwoodie said, with a completion date of Oct. 31.
That project will convert the current triangle island into a T-intersection and shift the alignment of Kingfisher to free up space for a new sewage lift station.
And, if council approves a recommendation from Dinwoodie at the Aug. 20 regular council meeting, work will resume on Main Street reconstruction through the fall.
That work involves installing a storm interceptor on Main Street between 85th and 89th streets, as well as installing “bump-outs.” These are the sidewalk extensions that were installed at intersections on Main Street between 85th Street and Spartan Drive in the spring.
Dinwoodie is recommending that this contract also be awarded to H & M Excavating, which did the work this spring in addition to the present project on 62nd Avenue.
The Main Street project is scheduled for completion by Dec. 14. The B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure will contribute to the storm sewer part of this project, Dinwoodie said.
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
It was alternating traffic on 62nd Avenue west of Highway 97 as crews install storm sewers and resurface the road up to Osoyoos Secondary School. The work is scheduled to be completed before the new school year. (Richard McGuire photo)
