As St. Ann’s Road re-opens to traffic today, the city is preparing to shift detours.
As of Monday, Alder Street will be closed between St. Ann’s and 10th Avenue until the end of the year.
To get around the construction, traffic will be detoured down St. Ann’s, onto Shoppers Row and around to 10th Avenue.
During the closure, there will be no parking along the closed off portion of Alder, however, there will still be front door access to all businesses in the affected area.
While St. Ann’s is open to traffic, Jason Hartley, the city’s capital works manager, said motorists should be aware there will still be traffic controls in place.
“Landscaping will be continuing along St. Ann’s so although St. Ann’s is opening, it’s still an active construction zone, so it’s still 30 kilometres an hour,” Hartley said.
“Motorists, when on Monday morning they’re driving down St. Ann’s, they need to be aware there’s still construction going on.”
While the underground utilities – water, sewer and storm drainage pipes – are now in place on St. Ann’s there are still above-ground improvements to put in place.
Two rows of scarlet oak trees will be planted along the north side of St. Ann’s while on the south side, a single row of trees will be going in the ground.
To avoid problems caused by the London plane trees on Shoppers Row such as tree roots growing into underground pipes and cracked concrete, crews on the St. Ann’s block project are installing root barriers which go into the ground and prevent the spread of tree roots.
All of the trees selected – beech trees for Beech Street, maple trees on Alder and Dubeau and St. Ann’s’ scarlet oaks – have all been carefully selected to ensure they are best suited to the local climate, according to Hartley.
Other than the trees, above-ground improvements also include boulevards planted with shrubs in between the trees, wider sidewalks, benches, and black streetlights similar to the ones along the revamped section of Highway 19A in Willow Point.
Hartley said overall, the $4.05 million project is moving along smoothly and on time.
He said the re-opening of St. Ann’s met its targeted re-opening of late September or early October because of the work of the contractor, Uplands Excavating.
“By increasing their efficiencies the crews have managed to, in spite of recent inclement weather, got themselves a few days ahead of schedule,” Hartley said.
“That’s 100 per cent their doing, using best practises and working on Saturdays – picking up an extra day a week.”