Park accessibility upgrades, improvements to dozen of roads part of City's $3.6M resurfacing program

With North Bay City Council's approval of its $3.6 million budget, the City of North Bay's asphalt resurfacing program will proceed with its plan to repave 37 sections of roadways and five sections of pathways this year.

Council awarded a nearly $3.3 million contract to Pioneer Construction Inc. for the program during Tuesday's regular meeting. The resurfacing program is in addition to patching and rural road work and "is an annual spend of around $3.5 million," said Coun. Chris Mayne, chair of council's infrastructure and operations committee.

This leaves a contingency of approximately $250,000 to be applied if time and the budget allow it. "If we're doing well by mid-summer we'll try to add in a few more roads from the prioritized list," before the construction season ends in the fall, Mayne advised.

The list of roads due for rehabilitation is developed through a quantitative and objective process that is updated every four to five years by a third party for the City, according to the associated staff report. Roads are scored and ranked based on traffic usage and other criteria including riding comfort, noise, cracking and stress.

"Last year, we did about 19 kilometres of resurfacing," added Mayne. "This year we've got 15.2 kilometres planned — some of those roads are a little wider, so we feel we're still getting the same value for our money this year."

Though the City has traditionally prioritized arterial and collector roads, it has started in recent years to tackle lower-usage residential and rural roads that are considered to be in the poorest condition.

Depending on their condition, roads included in the program will undergo various types of treatments, including milling and paving, pulverizing and paving, overlay and reconstruction. Roads requiring major reconstruction are typically addressed as standalone projects and also include other infrastructure improvements.

The work also includes ongoing crack sealing, which helps extend the life of roadways.  

The new pathways included in the resurfacing program are part of the City of North Bay's plan to help make some of its beach and park areas more accessible. The work also includes the installation of wheelchair-friendly picnic tables.

Crews will install a pathway linking the washrooms and gazebo at Olmsted Beach and will plant some trees in Armstrong Park. The pathway there will also connect to the new accessible playground to be completed this summer. 

See related: Play time! Council approves contract for fully-accessible playground equipment

At Sunset Park, an accessible path around the perimeter of the park is under construction and two new accessible picnic tables will be added. The City will also install accessible picnic tables at Champlain Park and pave the existing stone dust pathway to improve accessibility.

A breakdown of this year's asphalt resurfacing program:

Pathways

• Olmsted Park
• Champlain Park
• Kate Pace Way
• Silver Beach
• Sunset Beach

Roads                                                                                                         

• Frost Street from Meighen – Montrose
• Memorial Drive from Judge – Stanley
• Wyld Street from Second – McIntyre
• Fraser Street from Second – First
• First Avenue East from Regina – Fisher
• First Avenue East from John - Regina
• Lansdowne Avenue from Algonquin – Ann
• Lansdowne Avenue from Algonquin – O’Brien
• Main Street West from Nipissing – Gormanville
• Chippewa Street West from Cassells – High
• Booth Road from Ferris – Birchs
• Vimy Street from Browning – Algonquin
• Hutcheson Avenue from McLeod – Douglas
• McLeod Street from Lansdowne – Hutcheson
• Morin Street from Lansdowne – Lorne
• Foster Avenue from O’Brien – Gould
• Second Avenue from Ferguson – entrance to 150 First Avenue
• Vanier Street from Albert – Rankin       
• Rankin Avenue from Montrose – Vanier
• Lakeview Drive from Mapleview – Surrey
• Joseph Street from Gladstone – Woodward
• Cartwright Avenue from Lakeshore – Whitney
• Gladstone Avenue from Ethel – McDonald
• Gladstone Avenue from George - Charles
• Ethel Street from Lee – Gladstone
• George Street from Lee – end
• Amelia Street from James – Colgan
• Alexander Road from Kingsway – Eglee
• Gordon Drive from Granite – Carlo
• McKay Avenue from Eastview – Gordon
• Parkwood Avenue from Pinewood – Cedargrove
• Marshall Park Drive from Labreche – Massey
• High Street from McLeod – O’Brien
• Albert Street from O’Brien – Vanier
• Passmore Avenue from Lakeshore – Whitney
• Marshall Park Drive bus stop
• Marshall Park Drive bus pull off (West Ferris Intermediate and Secondary School)