By Nigel Maxwell

RM demands answers over highway project

Sep 18, 2014 | 1:26 PM

Frustration continues to grow over a highway project near Prince Albert that has taken more than four months to complete.

A stretch of Highway 302 west remains closed. Back in May, the road began to collapse after a culvert backed up. The originally scheduled completion date was June 24, but highway crews have encountered countless issues with repairs, both weather and equipment related.

As of Wednesday, crews began a new repair method, a procedure called an open cut technique.

“So we are going to dig out some of the embankment on both sides of the road and extend the culvert that is there,” said Joel Cherry, with the ministry of highways and infrastructure.

A councillor for the Rural Municipality of Duck Lake, Dale Ksyniuk, has written a letter to Premier Brad Wall requesting disciplinary action.

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“We've laid in many culverts in the municipality, and I know it's not as big as a ravine but we also have the same type of issues and we definitely don't spend $1.3 million. We'd bankrupt the RM in one year,” said Ksyniuk.

Ksyniuk feels strongly that hundreds of thousands of dollars could have been saved had the crews simply done a simple culvert repair.

“When you know they have got one culvert to repair, not a number of culverts, you'd think they would have had this done in and around June 24, whatever the tender date was,” said Ksyniuk.

Cherry said the solution is not that simple.

“The road is about 10 meters higher than the ditch beside it. There is a really high embankment there and to just move that volume of earth, we figured would be 40,000 cubic metres of earth, would be impractical,” said Cherry.

Cherry said he could not offer a completion date, but he was hoping that with favourable weather conditions they could be finished by the end of this fall.

When asked to confirm the costs mentioned by the RM, Cherry said the amount to the contractor is $930,000. There have also been $300,000 in costs associated with the project, such as maintaining the detour.

“Additional costs that have to do with these are going to be shouldered by the contractor rather than the tax payers,” said Cherry.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell

Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story said the RM sent the letter to the premier. It was only Coun. Ksyniuk who did.