The warmer weather has allowed City of Estevan crews to finally proceed with its spring operations.
Norm Mack, the director of public works for the city’s roads and drainage division, said the city had a late start because of the lingering snow and the below average temperatures that persisted into mid-April. But once the temperatures warmed up the week of April 16, the city was able to start work with street sweeping and other tasks.
“We’ve had the sweepers going through some pretty cold weather, but we wanted to get the jump on that, because that’s the first step of repairing our streets and maintaining them, is to get the dirt off … so that we can patch, crack fill and start line painting,” Mack said in an interview with the Mercury.
Street sweepers have been out on the arterial roads in recent days. They’ll move into the secondary residential areas starting on May 1.
Patching potholes with cold mix has also started, but represents a temporary measure for the roads. The hot mix plant will be in operation at the end of April, and when summer crews start on May 1, pothole patching and street repairs will be among their tasks.
Local roads are in relatively good shape as far as potholes are concerned, he said.
“If you can keep them dry, and take the snow off of them, then you’ll really notice the difference in the spring,” said Mack.
Mack has previously stated that the intersection of Souris Avenue South and Perkins Street, and portions of King Street that haven’t been resurfaced, are among the troublesome areas for potholes in the city.
King Street from Pine Avenue to Kensington Avenue is scheduled to be resurfaced this year.
Line painting will begin soon. Mack said city crews started pre-marking work on April 19, with hash marks to indicate areas that need to be painted.
“We need the streets really clean first, before we even think of painting with a pre-mark,” said Mack. “I’m thinking in mid-May, somewhere around there. Hopefully we can paint, depending on weather, before Operation Clean Sweep starts.”
Operation Clean Sweep is the city’s annual clean-up campaign. Mack said it’s a good program that the city has had going since 2016.
It will begin on May 14, with city crews cleaning ditches, streets and sidewalks at all four entrances of the city and outlying areas. The second day will see crews clean all city properties including green spaces such as boulevards, medians, parks and natural areas.
City of Estevan crews will pick up organic waste materials, including twigs, leaves and yard refuse from people’s front yards in north Estevan on May 16.
Then they will do the same for the southern half of the city on May 17.
Branches must be bundled in three-foot lengths. Leaves and yard refuse must be bagged. All items must be on the front driveway by 8 a.m. on the designated pickup day.
A free landfill weekend for residential waste will be May 18 to 21. Appliances with Freon and hazardous materials will not be accepted.
Also scheduled for this year is the continuation of the patching program for areas affected by water main repairs. Crews will first repairs the sidewalks in the affected areas, and then tackle the asphalt.
“We’re going to try to get that done as soon as we can,” said Mack.
Mack said there is also a plan to repair some of the crumbling sidewalks in the city. Public works and engineering have pinpointed some of the sidewalks that aren’t in good shape.
“Some of them are 60 or 80 years old, so we’re going to be replacing some of them, or at least we hope to,” said Mack.
The budget has more than $250,000 allocated for sidewalk repairs this year, Mack said, and the city could spend even more. Second and Third Street in the west end of the city are among the areas that Mack said need repairs the most.
It could become an annual program, if the budget permits.
