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Cranbrook, BC (May 27, 2024) – Construction of phase 2 of the City of Cranbrook’s lagoons project, and the Highway 95 watermain crossing have both reached substantial completion.

Administration provided an update to Council at their regular meeting Monday night, along with updates on several other capital projects scheduled to start later this spring.

Phase two of the lagoons bypass construction is substantially complete, with the contractor Copcan having completed the install of all the piping, valves, control structures, electrical and programming ahead of schedule. Because of the early project completion, Copcan was able to complete some extra work such as removal of vegetation around the lagoon cells which will help tremendously with the site operations. Final restoration work and site cleanup is underway.

Copcan has also reached substantial completion on the Highway 95 watermain crossing, after successfully directional drilling the new watermain under the highway, near Denham Ford. The new watermain has been installed, tested, and tied in, and is now fully operational.  By the end of the month, surface restoration work around the project site should be wrapped up, depending on the weather. The new watermain replaces the old, undersized line which had reached its end of service live and was in very poor condition. The new line has created increased fire flow and redundancy to the water system.

Gally Equipment Services, following a competitive RFP process, has been awarded the reconstruction project of 12th Avenue South from 2nd Street South and 3rd Street South. A new watermain, with new services to each property line, updated drainage infrastructure, new asphalt and new curb, gutter and sidewalk will all be completed. Gally is expected to start on this project within the next two weeks.

A second road reconstruction project for 6th Street South, from 3rd Avenue South to 5th Avenue South is currently out for RFP and is scheduled to close on June 13, 2024. We are targeting a completion date of September 30, 2024 with new watermain and services, new stormwater infrastructure, new road surface and sidewalks.

And, after a difficult year of freeze thaw cycles, significant sections of Victoria Avenue, Industrial Road 1, and 6th Street NW will see some major mill and fill patching work undertaken in the worst areas to extend the life of the roadway. Staff used our asset management and pavement management framework to identify these particular roadways for resurfacing in 2024. The escalation of construction costs has significantly and negatively impacted the amount of resurfacing work the City is able to complete, compared to trends from 3 to 5 years ago.

The City of Cranbrook gratefully acknowledges the financial contributions of the Canada Community Building Fund (former Gas Tax Fund) toward all these important infrastructure projects.