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Tread lightly – This B.C. city to pay $150,000 for one kilometre pavement

City’s 2019 paving budget to stretch over six kilometres, list shows areas targeted
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A map of the areas targeted by the City of Salmon Arm’s paving program this year. (City of Salmon Arm image)

The streets of Salmon Arm might not be paved with gold, but they certainly aren’t cheap.

The city will be paying about $150,000 per kilometre, depending on location, to pave Salmon Arm roads in 2019.

With this year’s budget of about $950,000, that will translate into approximately six kilometres of pavement.

In total, the city is responsible for maintaining more than 210 kilometres of roadway, excluding the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 97B.

Rob Niewenhuizen, the city’s director of engineering and public works, says $150,000 is a good approximation, but does vary per project depending on the type of treatment required.

“Whether it’s a straight asphalt overlay, the thickness of the overlay or if other prep work is needed such as milling out sections to re-crown the road or pulverizing the existing road surface, etcetera,” he explains. “Pulverizing is typically done when the road surface is in very poor condition and we can either leave the pulverized asphalt in place to build up the pavement base or haul the material away for it to be used in other areas.

“The other major factor is, of course, the cost of asphalt which varies from year to year.”

He explained to city council that the locations to be paved are chosen through the city’s pavement management process. As the work progresses and crews are in the field, a project might be taken off the list or another added.

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This year’s list of proposed paving locations includes:

• Shuswap Street from Lakeshore Drive to Hudson Avenue NE;

• Hudson Avenue NE from Shuswap Street to Ross Street;

• McLeod Street from Trans-Canada Highway to Hudson Avenue NE;

• 12th Street NE from 10th Avenue NE to cul-de-sac;

• 60th Avenue NE from Lakeshore Road NE to 2060 60th Ave. NE;

• 26th Avenue NE from Lakeshore Road NE to 25th Street NE;

• 32nd Street NE from 18th Avenue NE to 20th Avenue NE;

• 19th Avenue NE from 32nd Street NE to 33rd Street NE;

• 33rd Street NE from 18th Avenue NE to 19th Avenue NE;

• 18th Avenue NE from cul-de-sac to 33rd Street NE;

• 3rd Street SE from 5th Avenue SE to 7th Avenue SE;

• 6th Avenue SE from 3rd Street SE to 4th Street SE;

• 7th Avenue SE from 3rd Street SE to 4th Street SE;

• 4th Street SE from 6th Avenue SE to 7th Avenue SE;

• 20th Street SE from 9th Avenue SE to Auto Road SE;

• 5th Avenue SW from 60th Street SW to Christison Road;

• 48th Avenue SE from 50th Street SE to Auto Road SE;

• 50th Street E from 45th Avenue SE to Auto Road SE;

• 60th Street NE from Okanagan Avenue to 10th Avenue NE;

• 20th Avenue NE from 60th Street NE to west;

• 25th Avenue NE from 28th Street NE to 30th Street NE.

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The city’s paving contract was awarded to lowest tenderer, Okanagan Aggregates Ltd., which has completed the city’s paving program over multiple contracts including the last two years, “which were very successful,” states a city staff report.


@SalmonArm
marthawickett@saobserver.net

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Martha Wickett

About the Author: Martha Wickett

came to Salmon Arm in May of 2004 to work at the Observer. I was looking for a change from the hustle and bustle of the Lower Mainland, where I had spent more than a decade working in community newspapers.
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