Construction season underway in Timmins

Timmins ramps up roadwork, while doubling its paving plans with a $5 million per year investment. Lydia Chubak has more.

“Potholes are a big problem,” said Scott Tam, Timmins’ director of growth and infrastructure.

Tam recommended city council commit $5 million annually for the next three years to “shave and pave” municipal roads.

Work is currently underway on Rae Street North.

Thanks to securing a better rate from the contractor, the city is doubling the number of kilometres it will repave over the next three years.

“With the pricing we got, we realize that we have an opportunity to add more,” said Tam.

“We’re still planning on doing about 12 to 14 kilometres of paving this year, so we’re still finalizing a little bit more to the list that’s out there now so we can really get ahead of it,” he added.

Dozens of roads will undergo repairs, and the $9.3-million list of projects is available on the city’s website.

This summer and fall, the Connecting Link project will focus on Highway 101 East, covering a long stretch from Crawford Street to the Porcupine River Bridge. Current priorities include asphalt grinding and a new water main.

“We figured we’d give a break on the rest of the downtown core… so we just wanted to make sure we had all that planned out and this was the next segment that we designed and ready to go,” said Tam.

City council approved the work in March at a cost of $21.7 million. Due to the project’s scope – including full asphalt restoration, new lights and a new sidewalk on the north side – the work will take two years to complete.