Snow signals looming end to city road construction season

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This article was published 26/10/2023 (743 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

City of Winnipeg road construction projects will continue as the first snow of the season falls, but efforts may be short-lived as forecasts mark the end of mild, work-friendly weather.

“Construction will not cease when it snows today and tomorrow. Some projects may pause temporarily due to inclement weather, but projects still underway will be working to complete things in the next couple of weeks while conditions permit,” a city spokesperson said Thursday in an email.

“Any unfinished projects to be carried over will be left in a safe and traversable condition for the winter.”

After a particularly warm fall, temperatures stayed a few degrees below average through Thursday, and it appears the last balmy days of 2023 have come and gone.

With colder temperatures came snow this week in southern Manitoba. Another cold system was on its way Thursday, with overnight snow expected in Winnipeg.

“I’m sure lots of people are going to be disappointed, because, up to just recently, it was so very nice and so they hoped it would continue,” Environment and Climate Change Canada warning preparedness meteorologist Natalie Hasell said.

“But it doesn’t look like that’s coming back any time soon.”

Even so, those who groaned at the sight of first snow should remember, in Winnipeg, it came fairly late.

“The precipitation data actually shows us that we can get snow in September — not a lot, typically — but snow in September is possible. Snow in October is normal,” Hasell said. “So the fact that we’re only getting it now at the end of the month is actually pretty good.”

Manitoba Heavy Construction Association president and chief executive officer Chris Lorenc is following the forecast and crossing his fingers as many construction projects as possible can wrap up for the season.

“Let’s just pray that the weather forecasts take a turn for the better, and if Mother Nature sees fit to help us, it would help us finish,” he said.

In recent years, road construction in Winnipeg has gone on until, give or take, Nov. 10, and that is how the 2023 season has been organized, he said.

Any road projects not yet finished would be covered with aggregate material and compacted, so cars can pass through. There are some underground projects that will be able to continue through “heating and hoarding,” a system that uses a sealed structure to create heat and generate it through the construction zone.

While the snow may put a damper on some projects, Lorenc said the temperatures look fair enough for work to continue.

“There are specifications that are designed for a colder temperature, so it’s not an issue that we can’t (handle). But if it goes below certain temperatures, then it becomes problematic and it would end up being a carryover project.”

Meanwhile, Coun. Russ Wyatt (Transcona) is calling for an independent audit of Winnipeg road projects, pointing to issues the city’s public works road procurement program has had with late tendering, labour shortages and accessing affordable aggregate material.

“I don’t think there’s any negative to this. I’m not pointing fingers, in terms of our public service… All I’m saying is that we need to find efficiencies, we need to find ways of doing our existing procurement better because it’s really not working,” Wyatt said.

“When you have capital projects that have been scheduled to be complete, and for weeks later, they’re not complete, when we’re seeing inflationary costs going up through the roof.”

The motion, which was brought forward at Thursday’s council meeting, will be referred to the executive policy committee next month. If the committee approves it, it can then refer it for consideration on the annual list of city audits.

A “fresh set of eyes” could redirect investment opportunities to see if the city could more efficiently work with the province, rather than over-investing in the private sector, Wyatt said.

“The idea is that we would get ahead of the game, in terms of the annual tendering, that we would get, maybe, co-operation with provincial government, so we’re not tendering against each other, like we do now.”

— with files from Joyanne Pursaga

malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca