Traffic was flowing once again along both lanes of Notre-Dame Street East on Tuesday.
For the first time in nearly nine months, there wasn’t a single orange construction cone in sight.
Crews managed to Macgyver a solution for repairing the sewer system entrance Tuesday.
The busy eastbound artery had been down to one lane since July.
City engineers ordered the lane closed to cars after discovering the trap door to the underground sewer entrance was cracked, making the area unsafe for drivers.
The city waited six months for a custom-made trapdoor that in the end, did not fit because of a measurement conversion error.
According to city spokesperson, Philippe Sabourin the eureka moment came after an old frame was found in the back of a public works garage.
“Two city employees found it on a palette under a lot of dust,” Sabourin said.
The long-lost frame was in good shape and fit the hole.
With a bit of mixing and matching, crews fitted the iron door from the original piece with the newfound frame to complete the trap door.
Sabourin said the piece was overlooked when the city originally searched for replacement parts.
“The part was deemed broken so it was not in our inventory,” Sabourin said.
The section of road around the sewer entrance has been fully repaved and is said to be completely fixed.
“Despite using older pieces the repair is good for 50 years,” Sabourin said.
Learning from their mistakes, officials said they are in the process of ordering a replacement piece to have as a backup when the need arises next time .
Sabourin said the custom-made piece, which came out the wrong size, will be used for another city project.