It’s been a bumpy road for the Ewen Avenue project, but the city is hoping for a smoother path in the final phase of construction.
Roger Emanuels, the city’s manager of design and construction, said the city is well aware of some “coordination issues” that have occurred in Phase 2 of the Ewen Avenue streetscape improvement project. He said the project has coincided with a record year of development in Queensborough, which has led to issues such as traffic congestion and buses being rerouted to side streets.
“We had a couple of large developments along Phase 2 that were having to fill sites. They were having 100 trucks a day coming and going from that site while the contractor was trying to build the road at the same time. We are aware of those things,” Emanuels said. “Could we have done a better job? Probably. Phase 3 – will we do a better job? We better.”
The project includes a multi-use path, new sidewalks, street- and pedestrian-level lighting, traffic calming elements aimed at deterring traffic from speeding down the street and bypassing the highways system, a new traffic signal at Howes Street and Ewen Avenue, upgrades to water and sewer mains, underground electrical systems, and new landscaping and rain gardens to control runoff and get it into the storm sewer system.
“The project runs the entire length of Ewen Avenue – it’s what we call a Great Street in our master transportation plan,” Emanuels said. “What we are doing is we are making a street that is usable by everyone, not just the automobile.”
Phase 1, a 550-metre project from Duncan Street to Derwent Way that cost $3 million, started in 2013 and was completed in 2014. Phase 2, an $18 million project that runs from Derwent Way to Hampton Street, started in 2014 and is expected to be completed next month.
“Phase 2, which is underway right now and nearing completion, is one of the longest sections. It’s nearly triple the length of the first section,” Emanuels said of the 1,250-metre stretch of roadway. “Major utility works were required in this portion.”
That work included the replacement of a Metro Vancouver water main, which “kind of messed us up” on the phasing, Emanuels said.
“It caused a lot of traffic issues, rerouting on local streets,” he said.
Queensborough residents may have also noticed concrete medians were placed on the roadway and later removed.
“It was a contractor error because they made them too large. It cut the travel lane down to four metres, which won’t accommodate cyclists and the vehicles,” Emanuels said. “That is a costly mistake for the contractor. They are rectifying that now.”
City officials have begun meeting with the consultant about Phase 3’s design and expect the project to go out for tender by the end of the year and for construction to begin in 2017. That 750-metre section from Hampton Street to Boundary Road is expected to cost $8 million.
“With that work we have done most of the utility work – it was done in Phase 2, so it should be less disruptive than Phase 2,” Emanuels said. “It’s also a shorter section and will be completed quicker than the Phase 2.”
Coun. Mary Trentadue wants the city to ensure it’s providing a place where residents can get up-to-date information about the project and developments. She noted council gets a lot of questions about what’s happening, how much longer the project will take to complete and how much is it going to cost.
“I would like to thank the community. I don’t live in Queensborough, but I can only imagine how challenging it must have been for the first couple of years dealing with the construction. I know that can be very, very frustrating. I’d like to thank the community for that,” she said. “In the end, when we get through it all, it is going to be a fantastic change for this community.”
