Roadwork on Royal Avenue is wrapping up in record time - even though it may not feel that way to motorists.
Construction crews got to work rebuilding a section of Royal Avenue on Aug. 26.
"One of the problems we have is as traffic volumes grow and the types of vehicles grow in weights, like heavy trucks, deterioration goes faster," said Roger Emanuels, the city's coordinator of design and construction. "Roads that were built 50 years ago can't withstand the weights. So instead of just repaving them, we have to go down and rebuild the substructure. That is what we are doing on Royal Avenue - basically rebuilding the substructure so that we can get longevity out of the roadway."
Royal Avenue is being rebuilt between Granville and Fourth streets. If the weather cooperates, the project is expected to wrap up in a week.
When doing road construction, crews often work between certain hours and then stop work during rush hour. In an effort to expedite the project, road closures have been announced and the roadwork has continued through rush hours and on weekends.
"One of the benefits is it will be done in half the time then it would if you were trying to work around traffic," he said.
The City of New Westminster has received fewer complaints about the road closures then it had anticipated.
"A lot of times we try and work with the contractors between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., and outside rush hours and things like that. One of the things we are doing now is we are giving motorists a lot of notice and saying, 'Expect closures, big delays.' We are letting the contractor close down a section of roadway because it improves productivity. It is safer for workers and even motorists because they are less frustrated," Emanuels said. "If you know there is going to be roadwork in that area you can plan around it or avoid it."
The work that's taking place from Fourth Street to the on-ramp of the Pattullo Bridge is being done by Winvan Paving Ltd.
"It's amazing it's held up as well as it did," he said of the construction methods used 50 years ago.
