By Thia James

Paving far from complete this year

Oct 8, 2014 | 6:37 AM

Prince Albert is on pace to finish only 65 per cent of the paving work it planned to have done under the $4 million roadways program.

The program was 55 per cent complete as of the end of September, acting public works director Wes Hicks said on Tuesday. Projects are currently under way around St. Mary High School and on Sixth Avenue West. The paving season is set to wrap up on Oct. 15.

“Any project that was on our list, will be carried over to the following year in 2015 and they will be the first projects completed,” Hicks said.

The City updates the status of its projects on its website, with the last update posted on Aug. 22. Hicks said there will be a number of these incomplete projects carried over until next year.

With the City carrying the incomplete projects forward, the unused portion of the $4 million allotted to the program will carry over to 2015 as well.

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Next year’s list will also include fewer new additions. With the holdovers from 2014 added to the 2015 list, Hicks said this leaves the City with only so much room for new projects in 2015.

Hicks attributed the paving delays to a combination of factors. He said there were heavy rains during the spring, which had the most significant effect. There were also many water main repairs that City crews dealt with before underground work took place. These haven’t caused any delays in August or September.

But then there was the contractor’s scheduling. B&B Asphalt has had to balance its work for the City with private projects.

“You add all those together and we’re not as far along as we’d like to be. [If] the weather holds, maybe we’ll get a little farther, maybe 70 per cent,” he said.

He said they’ve already put City crews on to work 10-hour days and the contractor, B&B Asphalt has its crews working from dawn until dusk.

Although the paving program is behind schedule, Hicks doesn’t think the City was too ambitious with its list this year.

“You can’t predict the weather… We couldn’t have predicted the number of water main breaks,” he said.

The program is funded through a roadways base tax, which includes a $189 levy paid by residential property owners. Council initially approved the program during the 2013 budget cycle.

tjames@panow.com

On Twitter: @thiajames