The District of Clearwater has a new look complete with many new smooth surfaces and the addition of bike lanes / walking lanes has been well received. The contractor is working hard to get the work done in a timely manner. In the past month, over 12 km of paved overlay has been completed.
In addition to positive feedback, a common question received at the DOC is “why did my road not get paved when it is one of the worst?” The short answer is that with over 84 km of roads, there really isn’t enough funding at this point to address everything that has “need”. It was decided to stretch the dollars for the widest impact to the community. Council will continue to look at funding options and grants for future roads within the District.
The road choices were based on an audit that was initiated by the District prior to taking over the responsibility of the roads. During the audit roads were classified into category by condition and costs were associated with each category. The Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure agreed to complete pavement overlay to a maximum dollar amount for the District. To capitalize on the dollar value, roads that required the LEAST preparation for resurfacing and would have an extended life of upwards of 10 years were addressed. As many people will note, Robson Street was not done and this is an example of a road that requires in excess of a hundred thousand dollars before it could be resurfaced.
The roads project was made possible by the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure through a contract they managed with Emil Anderson Construction. The Contractor is now in the process of doing the shoulder work (0.5m gravel shoulder) for all paving work within the community. This will be complete in the next couple of weeks, and includes the transitions between old and new pavement with regards to driveways and approaches.
All further questions can be directed to the District of Clearwater and the public is welcome at any time to look over the details of the Infrastructure Master Plan. We look forward to serving the citizens of Clearwater in the new Dutch Lake offices starting Monday July 21.