It’s hoped third time will be a charm for rail crossing upgrades on Quayside Drive.
Southern Rail was set to perform upgrades to the rail crossing on Quayside Drive at Laguna Court on Monday, Jan. 5, but the work was delayed by a labour dispute.
Winfred Chan of Southern Rail said the work has been delayed because of a strike/lockout with unionized railway workers.
“This work is part of improving their crossing there, replacing the rails and the ties and so forth,” said Keith Whiteley, a project manager with the city. “At the same time they will be installing the conduits for the whistle cessation. When they are in there opening up the road, we will get all the under-road work done that’s required.”
In January 2014, the City of New Westminster and Southern Railway of B.C. singed a memorandum of understanding to begin the process of getting whistle cessation along the city’s Queensborough and mainland corridor.
Once the work on Quayside Drive gets the green light to proceed, it can be completed quite quickly.
“To remove the track, they get in there and blast it out pretty quick. They have a crew that comes in and drops the new track back in,” Whiteley said. “It has been postponed and will be scheduled for a later date. That’s all I know now.”
Whiteley said no new date for the work has been scheduled at this time. The city will try to provide residents with some advance warning of the work, as traffic won’t be able to drive the full length of Quayside Drive.
While the labour dispute has stalled the crossing improvements, it’s not the first time the work has been delayed.
“The first time, they had one in the beginning of December. What happened is some of the parts didn’t arrive in time. They were back ordered,” Whiteley said. “At the last minute they had to cancel because the contractor couldn’t guarantee the parts were there.”
