The City of Moose Jaw held a virtual open house on Thursday evening to give a high-level look at the busy construction season ahead this summer. 

Many of the projects will be in high-traffic and highly visible areas. One of the more problematic projects will be the water main replacement and paving on Main Street North. 

Starting on Monday, water main replacement will be taking place from Main Street North from Manitoba Street to River Street. Once the water main replacement is finished, paving will take place on Main Street from Manitoba Street to Fairford Street. 

This will include the closure of the River Street intersection. 

In conjunction with that, there will be water main replacement on River Street East from Main Street to First Avenue Northeast as the weeks go on. 

“We’re anticipating it to take four to eight weeks. Four weeks being the best-case scenario, eight weeks being the worst-case scenario. So ideally, we’re landing somewhere in the middle, closer to four (weeks),” said Infrastructure Renewal Project Manager Travis Leblanc. 

Because this construction is taking place in the heart of downtown Moose Jaw, the city is continuing to put out the message that businesses will remain open during construction and signage will be in place as well letting people know they are still open for business. 

On the construction side, the city is doing what it can to avoid the busy tourism season. 

“We did force the TR1 contractor to avoid July and August work. We’ve also been in communication and working with NIS, who is the contractor for the water renewal project, and working with him to do this project before the main timeline and the busy time of the season,” said Tyler Erickson, Manager of Engineering Services. 

The city is currently wrapping up infrastructure renewal projects left over from 2023 including surface work on the 500 to 800 blocks of Fairford Street West, 16th Avenue Northwest from Caribou Street to Stadacona Street. This work is expected to wrap up in the next couple of weeks. 

Road closures went into effect at the beginning of this week for work on Coteau Street West from Eighth Avenue Southwest to 12th Avenue Southwest for the 2024 Infrastructure Renewal Projects. 

Other infrastructure renewal projects happening this year include Rorison Avenue, Pascoe Crescent, Grace Street from Corman Crescent to Thatcher Drive and Thatcher Drive West from Grace Street to 16th Avenue Northwest. 

“There’s going to be a lot of inconvenience in a lot of high traffic areas in the city this year. And, of course, anybody who’s driven some of those areas, Coteau Street being one, knows how important this work is, but yes, it will be an inconvenience and detours are in place on Coteau Street right now,” said Acting Director of Strategic Growth Craig Hemingway. 

Motorists are reminded that they can be fined up to $150 for disobeying any construction signage. 

For paving and concrete, a lot of the sidewalk work is already underway, but paving has not started yet. Concrete work is underway from Saskatchewan Street to MacDonald Street. 

Concrete work on Coteau Street from 12th Avenue to 16th Avenue Southwest and Wellington Drive from Everton Crescent to east of Wellington Place is ongoing.  

Hall Street from Seventh Avenue to Ninth Avenue Northwest is scheduled to wrap up concrete work this week weather permitting. 

Unidirectional flushing on water mains to remove sentiments from the lines will take place in zone two this summer, which is the core area of the city. One week will be covered in the evenings to reduce the impact on downtown businesses. 

Residents are asked to pay attention to the City of Moose Jaw app and website. There is a link to a map telling you when your area will be flushed out. The map shows yellow for areas that will be flushed out in the next 24 to 48 hours. The area will then shift to blue when the flushing is completed. 

Residents in yellow areas are asked to refrain from using water during working hours. Signage will also be posted throughout the city. If you run water at the same time as the flushing, you may have sentiment come up into our service line and you will need your lines flushed out. Once your area shifts to blue, you are free to resume regular water use. 

The unidirectional flushing is expected to take three weeks to complete the entire program. 

This summer, the Parks and Recreation Department will have several playground renewal projects going forward. Crescent Park will have new garbage bins and picnic tables. Sunningdale Athletic Park’s playground will also receive a new picnic table. 

Over at Elgin Park, there are plans for more benches and garbage bins. There is edging and landscaping planned around Optimist Park’s playground. A new toddler swing set will be installed at Regal Heights Park and Ross Wells Park will be getting LED lighting upgrades. 

For sports field renewal, the Kinsmen Sports Complex (formerly known as Caribou Heights) will see scoreclock replacements at Elks Field and Eddy Moore Park. Building upgrades are being finished up at Elks Field along with LED lighting upgrades, and new aluminum bleachers and a concrete pad. 

A new privacy wall will be installed for the ladies’ washroom at Optimist Park, and exterior lighting on the concession building and a pavilion installation. 

Drainage issues will also be addressed at McCullough Field and the Dayton Diamond. 

For those interested in learning more about public works in the city, Public Works Week is from May 19 to 25. The city will be holding its annual open house at the City Complex to 1010 High St. W. from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on May 22. It is open to everyone and will have food trucks, demonstrations and public works equipment on display. 

If residents have any issues with any infrastructure in the city, they are reminded to report it using the City of Moose Jaw app or the city’s website.