Pair of infrastructure projects under fire from Council

PRINCE GEORGE  – Saying the City had to “pay the bills” Mayor and Council approved borrowing $8.5 million for two culvert-related projects. The first addressed in Council Chambers was the Winnipeg Street sinkhole, which carries with it a bill of $1.7 million. That bill, as was asked by Councillor Terri McConnachie, only covered the latest sinkhole, not the three previous ones. 
“Four incidents at a single location raises red flags,” she said. “It’s very frustrating, frustrating for residents.”
Council was told a large portion of the bill was for de-watering that had to take place in Carrie Jane Gray Park. That portion of the total bill was $588,069 but was required in order to gain access of the eroded pipe, which was built out of corrogated pipe in the late 1960 or early 1970s.
The second discussion was around the bigger of the two projects, which was the replacement of the Willowcale Bridge over Hggath Creek. That bridge was closed to all traffic in March 2017.

“By early August 2017, cracks appeared in the new asphalt on the south side of the bridge indicating unstable ground below,” indicated the report to Council. The bridge was closed again and more repairs were done and the bridge was re-opened in July 2018.
The original budget, approved by Council, was $3.1 million dollars with the final bill coming in at $6.8 million.
But the project resulted in some angry questions from Council making the culvert underneath the bridge is in the wrong location and does not address fish habitat.
“The City is working with federal and provincial agencies to mitigate any effects of the culvert on fish habitat. At this time, however, the culvert cannot be removed because of public safety – the culvert accommodates over five metres of fill to remain in place to stabilize the soil in front of the bridge abutments,” according to the report to Council.

“The authorities will want the City to remove that culvert eventually,” Adam Homes, the Director of Engineering, told Council.
But it irritated a number of Councillors, including McConnachie.

“I sure wouldn’t want to see this debacle happen again,” she said, adding that many people “smarter than me” were working on the project and supposedly messed up.