The repair work on a broken sewer pipe under the Schumacher Highway is done. But the city’s director of engineering and public works isn’t sure when the lane reduction between Father Costello Drive and Highway 655 will be removed.
Westbound traffic has been reduced to one lane all week. Pat Seguin says the underground portion of the job has wrapped up.
“That’s all been repaired and we should be paving as soon as we can get some asphalt.”
Seguin couldn’t comment to mytimminsnow.com whether that paving can be accomplished by the originally expected deadline of Saturday afternoon.
He adds that the situation this week near Schumacher is very similar to the recent work on Riverside Drive, just west of Timmins Square — only that pipe carries water, not sewage.
“It was a metal water main that was corroded,” he says, “and so it’s all been lined so it’s virtually a new pipe.”
Seguin told city council last night that a wave is fast approaching. When it arrives, the city will be faced with having to replace a lot of water- and sewer mains that are approaching the end of their lives.
WATER, SEWER RATES TO BE SET
Seguin was at City Hall last night along with municipal treasurer Natalie Moore, to brief the mostly rookie council on water and sewer charges for 2019.
On Tuesday, council will vote whether to leave the annual rate at the 2018 level of just over $1,100 per household, or raise it by as much as $67.00.
Councillors Andrew Marks and Joe Campbell both indicated they won’t support an increase, because taxpayers are already experiencing fatigue with what they pay the city.