Eagle Rock Construction will get to work on the City of Quesnel’s Reid Street Revitalization project in a few short weeks, after being awarded the contract by the City on Tuesday, during the regular City Council meeting.
The City received three bids from contractors for the project, and approved Eagle Rock’s for $4,788,870 plus taxes.
The overall budget for the project specified in the City’s 2018 Capital Budget is $6,136,000. Other bids included Belvedere Place Development Ltd’s for $5,362,994, and IDL Project Inc’s for $8,883,000.
Eagle Rock is based in Kamloops, but the City of Quesnel’s tender process, which requires companies to pre-qualify to bid, has ensured that Eagle Rock will use local sub-contractors and a local workforce as much as possible. The City is unable to give direct preferential treatment to local contractors in the bid process due to trade laws.
The project
The 1952 water mains beneath Reid Street will be replaced along with water service lines, fire hydrants and valves, which is the chief reason for the project.
In conjunction with this, after public consultation, Council approved other changes to the street last summer, to make it more pedestrian-friendly. The design includes reducing two lanes down to one oversize lane, adding delivery vehicle pull-outs, widening the sidewalks and adding beautification efforts such as improved street lighting and benches.
The project encompasses the 200 to 400 blocks of Reid Street – from Carson Avenue up to Shepherd Avenue – and includes the 100 block of Barlow Avenue. The City of Quesnel website says the entire street, up to building doors, will be under construction.
Construction is set to begin the last week of April, and has a hard end-date of Sept. 20.
It will be split into two phases. The first phase will extend from Carson Avenue to just north of the Post Office. This is to minimize disruption to businesses as much as possible, says Mayor Bob Simpson.
“On that first part of the project the construction can happen 24/7, as there are no residences in that area,” says Simpson.
“In the top part, they will be able to work from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., to minimize disruption to the apartments above Johnston Meier Insurance and to the Best Western Tower Inn.”
Simpson is hoping that if all goes to plan and conditions are ideal, with no major hiccups, the project will be completed as early as August.
“At the extreme end it’s a five-month project,” says Simpson, noting that wildfire conditions or a wet summer have the potential to delay work.
The Quesnel Downtown Association (QDA) has been involved in the consultation process throughout the planning stages, which have taken place over the last year or so.
“The QDA held a special strategy meeting on March 19. The bulk of the day was spent coming up with tactics to cope with the development, such as helping businesses develop rear entrances, and coming up with special promotion strategies. We’ve hired a local person to help us put our list of action items in place,” says QDA president Mitch Vik.
Vik says the City plans to use Spirit Centre to communicate with the public, putting up posters and information regarding pedestrian access and parking outside of Reid Street.
“If we want these retailers to thrive through this, residents need to put up with dust and noise to support those businesses through the project,” says Simpson.
Vik notes that the contractor, Eagle Rock, will employ a community liaison, so that affected businesses are constantly updated as the project moves forward.
“This is all happening because the water mains are 60-odd years old, and we wholeheartedly support making improvements to our infrastructure.
“All we are asking for is to be kept in the loop so our businesses can take actions to cope. We have a willing partner in the city for that,” says Vik.
Carson Avenue and Front Street
Within this project, the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure (MOTI) will be collaborating with the city’s construction efforts to move the stoplight at Carson Avenue and Reid Street to Carson and McLean Street.
Some work will be done on Carson Avenue to create a stacking left turn lane onto Front Street.
Also planned for this summer is MOTI’s project to change Front Street to a three-lane configuration.
Simpson says the Front Street changes are still in the planning phase but he believes the Ministry intends to do much of the work at night time, and for work to begin at the end of August or early September.
“Our public works and the Ministry are trying to dovetail these two projects to minimize impact on businesses,” he says.