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Construction continues in downtown Crossfield

The Town of Crossfield’s effort to replace aging utilities and infrastructure below Railway Street is chugging along.

The Town of Crossfield’s effort to replace ageing utilities and infrastructure underneath Railway Street is progressing.

“We’ve got at least part of the work done on seven of the nine blocks, now,” said Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Ken Bosman. “The contractor is contractually obligated to complete the work by the end of October and if they don’t, then it’s going to cost them a lot of money, so we’re assuming they’ll get it done.”

On Aug. 17, the contractor – Professional Excavators and Construction Inc. – began the latest stage of the project with deep servicing work between Hammond Avenue and Osler Avenue. Detour routes and parking for vehicles are located along Grey Avenue, Ross Street and Osler Avenue.

Warm weather has made the work go smoothly in recent weeks, Bosman said.

“We had some rain at the beginning that made us a bit nervous, but we’re feeling much more confident than we were a couple of months ago,” he said.

Bosman said there are four reasons for the $10-million construction project. One is the need to replace Crossfield’s ageing sewer infrastructure, which is nearly 70 years old.

“Virtually the entire street had less than 10 years of sewer life left,” he said. “There were portions of the street where there was literally a danger of imminent collapse, according to our engineers.”

A second motive for the project was increasing the municipality’s water capacity. According to Bosman, the Town’s main water pump was moved from the center of Crossfield to a larger facility on the edge of town in 2011. Because the new pump was no longer located centrally, he said water flow in an emergency situation dropped “fairly dramatically in large portions of the town,” and was below the recommended flow levels.

“A major portion of the downtown rebuild is a 15-inch, high-pressure water main running the entire length of Railway Street from Laut Avenue up to Mountain Avenue,” Bosman said. “The mathematical modelling we’ve done suggests the vast majority of the town will now fully meet the recommended flow for fire suppression. In addition, it will enable additional future developments and the new subdivision, because we’ll have more water capacity to get water out to people.”

The capacity of Railway Street’s drainage system will also be increased by the project’s completion, Bosman said, which should reduce the possibility of flash flooding in the future.

“Storm management in the 1950s, when much of Crossfield was built, was not particularly good,” he said. "We had some events of flash flooding here in town, with relatively modest weather events."

“The storm line that was previously under Railway [Street] was typically in the 18- to 24-inch range. The new line running under Railway Street is anywhere from 42 to 60 inches in diameter.”

While the upgrades will provide many benefits to the community and will result in up to $6 million in long-term cost-savings, Bosman acknowledged the lengthy construction period and months of road closures have negatively impacted businesses along Railway Street, which is the main stretch of Crossfield’s downtown.

“You can’t blow up a street and not inconvenience businesses – that’s just the reality of the thing,” he said. “None of the businesses are thrilled we’re doing this.

“I think most businesses acknowledge that doing it all in one shot, getting it done in one year and having a beautifully restored, completed downtown…is a preferable option to many years of pain, spread out over project after project.”

According to crossfieldalberta.com, businesses along Railway Street will remain open during the construction project, with access provided via the sidewalks.

“We have always, unconditionally maintained either foot or vehicle traffic to every single business – nobody has been cut off,” Bosman said. “That said, jackhammers, backhoes and packers making noise outside your door is never a pleasant thing and I’m sure it’s not good for business.”

Following the deep servicing work, the Town will embark on a new beautification initiative for Railway Street and Crossfield's downtown.

Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19



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