WEYBURN - Road construction on the City of Weyburn’s biggest project this year, First Avenue, is progressing better than planned, and city council approved plans to prepare for paving of King Street in 2025.
Council heard an update about First Avenue from city engineer Jennifer Wilkinson on Monday evening, who noted the upgraded road work was able to be extended up to 11th Street from Government Road, and weather permitting, paving may be completed on much of it by the end of next week.
“First Avenue has gone exceptionally well. We’ve been surprised how much base structure is in place, which has allowed us to get all the way to 11th Street. We were able to do the underground work,” said Wilkinson, who noted they had to get the underground infrastructure work done before it’s paved over.
The paving contractor, Genco, has done from Government Road to Second Street, and a paving crew will be back in Weyburn by Sunday and may be able to complete most of the paving over the next week, she said, noting this is all weather dependent.
Asked about the work on 16th Street, Wilkinson said that project is mainly the replacement of a large storm drain along the boulevard, which is partly under the roadway.
Council was also told that this was Wilkinson’s last council meeting, as her last day as city engineer will be on Thursday.
Looking ahead to next year, the City has identified King Street from First Avenue to Fifth Avenue as their next high-priority project, with plans to do the work in 2025.
Wilkinson noted there has been no significant work or repairs to this section of road for the last 10 years at least, and the road surface has deteriorate with significant cracking and potholes.
The City has applied for joint funding through the Urban Highway Connection program, as this is part of Highway 35, connecting up with Highway 13 at First Avenue.
The first step this year was to award a tender to Walker Projects Inc. to do the design for road reconstruction and rehabilitation. The tender bid was for $29,900, the lowest of six bids from consulting firms.
Wilkinson said the unknown factor for funding for this road is the provincial election, slated for this fall.
Another project Weyburn is involved with is proposed upgrades to 22nd Avenue in conjunction with the RM of Weyburn, as part of that roadway is in the RM while the City’s portion is from Government Road up to the entrance to Evanston Park.
The RM has applied for funding under the Clearing the Path corridor program administered by SARM, and to be eligible for funding, a resolution had to come also from the City of Weyburn.
• In other council business, councillors were given a tour of the City’s web site for the municipal election, set for Nov. 13, 2024. The poll dates, locations, budget and election worker remuneration were set at the May 27 council meeting.
City clerk Tina Clay, the city’s returning officer, has helped set up the web pages for the municipal election along with Kyle Hertes, the city’s communications coordinator, who has been appointed as the associate returning officer.
The website went live on July 30, and the election worker application forms were posted on July 31. The candidates booklet has also been posted, with all of the information that a candidate will need to know to enter the city election race.
For the public, the web pages will have information about the candidates once they start filing this fall. Nominations for candidates open on Sept. 25, and will close on Oct. 9 at 4 p.m.
