Speed bumps on Galerno Road that surprised area residents are expected to be removed by the end of next month.
The city asked council to approve the Galerno/Simms Creek culvert repair work at Tuesday’s council meeting to a local company, which will erase the need for the speed bumps.
City staff recommended council hire the lowest bidder for the work, McElhanney Consulting Services Ltd., at a cost of $193,455 to be funded by the Storm Water Parcel Tax Reserve.
The culvert was not scheduled for rehabilitation until 2013 but an engineer recently found the culvert, which runs underneath Galerno Road, has deteriorated to the point that it is no longer capable of carrying the required loads.
The culvert bears the weight of the vehicles that pass along Galerno as well as a number of utilities that pass over the culvert within the roadway including a water main, a gravity sanitary sewer, a concrete encased Telus duct bank and a natural gas main.
Two months ago, the city was advised the culvert is buckling and the north wall of the culvert has impacted the road.
“The city’s consultant has determined that the risk is too high to delay the required remedial works to the Galerno Road Simms Creek culvert until 2013 as was originally planned based on the most recent inspection,” said Drew Hadfield, city transportation manager, in a report to council. “Accordingly, the city has issued a request for proposals for a design-build solution to be completed prior to the end of September.”
In the meantime, the city has propped up the steel pipe culvert in fish-bearing Simms Creek with screw jacks and timber beams. The speed bumps and a 30 kilometre per hour speed zone have slowed down traffic in an attempt to delay the breakdown of the culvert.
But the speed bumps have done more than slow traffic, they also landed a Campbell River teen in hospital with injuries to his ribs, face, legs, wrist, and elbow a few weeks ago.
Blair Mark, 16, was riding his skateboard southbound down the Galerno hill at night, and unaware of the small square-top speed bumps at the bottom of hill, he hit the speed bumps at full force, causing his board to stop and Mark to go flying through the air.
The city had installed signs on either end of the speed bumps to notify motorists of the change, but did not send out notification letters to residents in the area.
Hadfield said he would like the repairs to be done, and the speed bumps taken out, by September in order to avoid higher flow conditions in Simms Creek during the fall and winter months.
“The works to be undertaken in this project are of an urgent nature and are time-sensitive based on in-stream works as well as fall weather conditions that could see further deterioration of the crossing,” Hadfield said. “The work for this project will require either a short closure of Galerno Road during the construction period of traffic control in place.
“Staff will work with the consultant to determine the safest and most effective approach to the work site and will post local signage as required.”