Atikokan culvert replacement weeks away from completion

Local Journalism Initiative
·1 min read

ATIKOKAN – The Mercury Avenue culvert is almost fully repaired.

The Town of Atikokan declared a state of emergency last May after a storm caused the culvert’s failure and washed out a 15-metre section of roadway.

“This declaration empowers the municipality to take swift and decisive action to protect public safety and allocate the necessary resources to address the situation,” the announcement stated.

Nearly one year later, the new culvert’s installation is all but completed and Mercury Avenue is almost open to cars and trucks.

The repairs will be done in 4-6 weeks, Mayor Rob Ferguson told Newswatch this week.

Ferguson said “there will be a cost overrun” for the repairs.

“But the important thing is, we’re coming to an end in this story.”

Once completed, the culvert will “open the road up for traffic” but Mercury won’t be paved till fall, he said.

The project will be funded mainly “through reserves and the tax base” with some provincial grant money helping out, he said.

Ferguson said the town had planned to replace the culvert last summer, only to see their plans dashed by the May storm.

He recognizes that town administration was overly optimistic about how quickly repairs could get done and some townsfolk think it could have happened more briskly.

“Everybody’s got an opinion,” he said. “It has taken longer than we would like, but it’s going to be all done soon.”

Ferguson said the town also has a $7.7-million infrastructure project on O’Brien Street this year that includes water and sewer lines as well as repaving.

Mike Stimpson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Thunder Bay Source

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