An Edmonton project has gone off the rails, according to many people living in the Queen Alexandra neighbourhood.
The roadway on 106 Street from 70 to 74 Avenues was supposed to be paved and open to traffic by Oct. 20. The sign posted to the side of the road still says so.
More than a month later, those barricades still block the street and residents say there has been little to no work done in the last couple of weeks.
Dale Gibson lives along the construction route and called the project “extremely frustrating.”
“A comedy of many, many errors,” he said. “Then it ceases to be a comedy after a while and then it becomes a tragedy.”
Gibson said he watched crews rip up parts of the road and start over again.
“Now it appears that all they’ve done is left the barricades on a road that we can’t use until sometime in the spring.”
Rebekah Henri has lived along the street for the past couple of years. She said the work near her home didn’t start until mid-September.
“They’re supposed to be putting in bike lanes and reconstruction of the sidewalks,” she said.
“I saw one truck the other day cutting something on the road.”
The city said it has been working on neighbourhood renewal in Queen Alexandra and making the area more walkable and bike-friendly.
Now, weather conditions have delayed bike lane concrete pour and road work in the area until spring 2018.
It includes the section of road along 106 Street from 70 to 74 Avenues, as well as 76 Avenue from Gateway Boulevard to 104 Street.
Temporary barriers have been put in place to separate vehicle lanes from the bike lanes on 106 Street and the on-street parking has been eliminated.
Dec. 8 is the new target date to get the road open to vehicles and bikes.
READ MORE: City of Edmonton to provide bike lane plan for Strathcona this winter
Jeff Ward, with the Edmonton’s neighbourhood renewal branch, said the work that didn’t get finished was just a small portion of the three-year project.
Once complete, the area will have bike lanes, new sidewalks and curbs, signal upgrades and a raised intersection at 106 Street and 76 Avenue.
“We were getting toward the end of the season and we weren’t comfortable we’d get all that done and all that concrete poured in time.”
Ward thanked the people in the area for their patience and asked them for a little bit more patience until the work is all done.
“I would be comfortable saying by end of June next year would be the target.”
The neighbourhood renewal project in Lauderdale, in the city’s north end, has also been delayed.
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