On Tuesday afternoon the City of Sherbrooke announced its intention to complete 96 road infrastructure projects in 2020 despite the additional constraints caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These projects will represent an investment of $ 40.1 million and should be completed by the end of October or beginning of November by relying on a mix of municipal labour and private firms.
“As demonstrated in recent years, road and underground infrastructure are in poor condition and significant investments have to be made by the municipal council,” said Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier. “We hope that private construction companies can also benefit from these investments to counter economic downturns caused by COVID-19. Thus, nearly fifty construction sites will be delegated to these companies, while the others will be carried out by staff from the City of Sherbrooke.”
According to the director of Sherbrooke’s Urban Infrastructure Service, Caroline Gravel, the work will be split evenly between city and private workers both in terms of the number of sites and the investment value of the work.
“Again this year, the entire territory will be affected by this work,” Gravel said. “Although motorists are urged to be vigilant around all construction sites, six of these could generate slightly greater repercussions.”
The six projects in question are:
·the creation of a new bike path on the 12th Avenue overpass of Highway 610. This work, carried out in collaboration with the Ministère des Transports, is scheduled for July.
· Duplessis Road: reconstruction of the storm sewer and bicycle lanes and addition of a sidewalk between Galt Est and Lemire streets. This work, started last year, will restart with the beginning of the season on May 11.
