Mount Pearl residents toughing out never-ending road construction season
For some residents of Mount Pearl, it's difficult to remember a time when there wasn't mass road construction disrupting main streets and seemingly every exit and entrance into the city.
The city is in the middle of completely replacing water pipes, and sanitary and storm sewers that are decades old, says Mayor Dave Aker.
Residents of Roosevelt Avenue have seen their share of road construction over the last year. The work currently being done necessitated shutting off water to be shut off to most of the homes on the quiet street, forcing residents to get their water from garden hoses run from fire hydrants and linked to their home water supply.
Tina Randell says she was understanding of the road work to begin with, but entering and exiting her home street is becoming a challenge.
"It hasn't really bothered me personally until Wednesday of this week, when I had to take my 85-year-old mom to a specialist appointment and I couldn't get off the street," Randell told CBC News.
"I couldn't get up or down and I was stuck for about 10 minutes here, and just not able to go in either direction. They had something broken down, and then they were working on something else. So that was pretty frustrating."
Other residents, such as Don Jackman, have had fewer disruptions.
"It seems like it's been a long time. They've been at it over a month now, I guess," he said from his front lawn.
"I guess they got to do what they got to do. New pipes, new sewer, new water, the whole bit. I've had no inconvenience."
Aker says the city is planning to have roads repaved and completely operational again by November, with a second paving happening in the spring.
"In planning this project we knew it would be inconvenient for everybody. Not just our residents but many of our businesses," he said.
"We've got basically three sites being developed at any one point in time, but we're ensuring that we have a flow of traffic in each way. That way our businesses continue to operate. They have seen a bit of a downturn in some of their sales, but we're trying to minimize that."
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