Some residents along Sibbald Street have reached out to the Eagle to express their concerns over the construction that has seen Sibbald and Pope Street ripped up since the East End improvement project began July 7.
Sibbald Street neighbours, Mike Marsh and Suzanne LaMarre, expressed concerns over a lack of transparency from the town, a delayed and unrealistic timeline and a lack of organization on the part of the town.
LaMarre attended an info meeting held by the town last spring and she and fellow residents were advised that the project was slated for completion within two weeks.
“It took two and a half weeks to get one of the sewer lines done…since then it’s just been a comedy of errors,” said LaMarre.
The Eagle printed an article two weeks ago advising that the project would be completed by Sept. 30 (weather-bearing); according to Rick Deans, senior manager of infrastructure with the town, the project has been moved up to an Oct. 20 completion date.
Deans said a project of this scale would never have been given a two-week timeline and there must have been some miscommunication between the town and residents; delays were due to ‘unforeseeable underground conflicts’ and weather issues.
“I think we need to get better at giving people more accurate timelines that we can better deliver,” said East End resident and town councillor Tara McFadden.
The town has contracted the street improvement project to Rubydale Asphalt Works Ltd.
Marsh, a paralympic ski coach who purchased his Sibbald Street home in 1998, indicated that cracks in the wall of his kitchen, that he said began when the construction commenced, are getting noticeably worse.
“I just want to know when this is going to get done,” said Marsh, adding that his para-athletes have not been able to access his home due to the extensive construction.
Marsh also questioned the recently paved Sibbald Street, noting the high crown in the middle of the road; he said Rubydale advised him that the road would have to be ripped up, re-graded and re-paved.
This is not the case, according to Scott McKenna, engineer with town-contracted Urban Systems.
McKenna said they chose to ‘crown’ the road (making the centre higher) to accommodate stormwater drainage. The curb and gutter on the north side of the road is higher than on the south side because this is how it was originally and logistics proved to be more suitable to put the slopes back this way; the road was also widened by 1.5 metres.
This will be the completion of the East End infrastructure renewal project.
