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“Big Dig” changing its way

Oct 1, 2015 | 6:21 AM

Starting Friday, people driving on 2nd Ave. W. will be on brand new roads as the “Big Dig” switches its focus from the northbound to the southbound lanes.

With work starting on the east side of 2nd Ave. W. from 15th to 12th St., traffic restrictions will also see a slight change.

“All the signs will be adjusted accordingly so that the morning commute on Friday should be clear,” the city’s manager of capital projects Wes Hicks said, “It will be somewhat similar to what it is now. Only thing is, it’s on the other side of the roadway, and you’ll be driving on new roadway.”

Beginning on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.:

  • Through traffic will be permitted, one lane in each direction, for both east/west and north/south traffic.
  • There will continue to be no left turns permitted at the 2nd and 15th intersection.
  • No right turns are permitted for large trucks or vehicles over seven metres (use 1st Avenue West or 6th Avenue East).
  • Right turns will continue to be permitted at 12th and 2nd onto the bridge.

On Thursday night, the crew will begin moving their equipment to the other side of the road to begin their work on Friday morning.

Hicks said the project is well beyond halfway as the main components took place on the west side of the road consisting mostly of underground work to fix the pipelines.

On the east side, the crew will do two underground digs attaching neighboring water mains at 12th and 15th street.

“The infrastructure on that side is a lot less,” Hicks said. “The majority of the work right now is the surface work which is the concrete road ways, the concrete sidewalks, and the asphalt roadways.”

Because of the curing time, the concrete paving on 15th St. will not be finished by the end of the year, rather it will be covered with a light surface of asphalt before being done next spring.

Still, Mayor Greg Dionne was exceptionally happy with the progress, noting that all four lanes would be open by winter.

“Everyone knew the work had to be done and I just appreciate them knowing that we had to do the work,” Dionne said. “Once we’ve finished it off, hopefully we don’t have to touch it for another 100 years.”

 

knguyen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @khangvnguyen