For the first time since March, a section of Front Road in LaSalle is no longer under construction.
The construction barrels were removed late Tuesday afternoon, and all four lanes are now open between Boismier Avenue and Reaume Road.
The $7.9 million Front Road Storm Sewer Reconstruction project started last summer and resumed earlier this year.
The work includes the installation of underground stormwater pipes, storm chambers/manholes, and catch basins.
It’s being done in phases, and the phase that reduced lanes on Front Road started in mid-March.
Mayor Crystal Meloche says this part of the project took a little bit longer than expected.
“The last few weeks have just been the cleanup work and the finishing of the sidewalks and the grass areas,” says Meloche. “We did have that one lane closed a little bit longer just to provide a safe passage for our workers in that area.”
The project also includes building new pump stations at G. Craig Park and near the Riverdance building on Adams Lane.
She says crews are now working on the pumping stations.
“Adams Lane residents may have a little bit of a disruption just with equipment in the area, but that would be it,” she says. “Like I said, Front Road is fully open and operational. There’s no more issue with that being closed down, but this is the next phase of the project is the pumping stations, and a little bit over a year from now we’ll see the work on the retention pond behind the event centre.”
Meloche says the town has not switched to the new system yet as crews continue to work on the new pumping stations.
“I know people would expect that once they see all those barrels go away, that that means it’s all done, but it’s not,” says Meloche. “There’s the next phase of the project, so hopefully everyone can bear with us and realize that this is going to take some time to have the whole system up and going, but we’re moving in the right direction.”
The project aims to reduce flooding risks, with partial funding from the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund.