It appears the downtown Wallaceburg parking lot paving project is a bigger job than expected.
The downtown lot, which is sandwiched by Wellington Street and James Street in Wallaceburg, had been slated for repaving this year, however Chatham-Kent staff are going to wait until spring.
Adam Sullo, director of engineering and transportation in Chatham-Kent, said in an e-mail that staff have surveyed and reviewed the existing parking lot.
“We originally believed it was a smaller job than what we saw when on-site,” Sullo said. “As part of the work we need to make changes to the drainage of the parking lot, as well as make repairs to the base below the asphalt.”
Sullo said they are currently working on design drawings for both the drainage, grading and surface improvements.
“It is our intention to put this out to tender early in 2016 and construct first thing in the spring to have it ready for summer activities next year in Wallaceburg,” he said. “We had reviewed the possibility of constructing this year but we are concerned that we would not be able to do all of the necessary upgrades required. Also, that we would be paving in unfavourable weather conditions which would significantly reduce the life of the asphalt.”
The issue was raised by WAMBO chair Bill Wolsing last year in a letter to council, stating that the downtown parking lot on James Street was in rough shape and had multiple tripping hazards for people walking through their event.
Staff had promised to complete the job before WAMBO this past summer, but the project fell through the cracks.
Wallaceburg Coun. Jeff Wesley said a miscue in the engineering department led to the project being overlooked.
“Based on a request by WAMBO this parking lot will have the drainage corrected and a new coat of asphalt by the end of this year,” Wesley said.
“It had been promised that this would have been done before WAMBO, but the Chatham-Kent engineer in charge left and did not pass this project on to anyone. So valuable time was lost. Yes, it fell into a crack due to employee turnover.”
Wesley said he stressed to Chatham-Kent staff that the project needs to be completed well in advance of WAMBO 28, taking place in August 2016.
GREAT JOB ….folks.