Media Releases

Willow Street infrastructure renewal project on hiatus until spring

The pause button has been pressed on the $2.3-million Willow Street infrastructure renewal project.

Work on the project began in September when workers from Beale and Inch Construction Ltd. removed pavement at the corner of Spring and Willow streets. Between then and the stoppage of construction around the end of November, crews replaced the water main on Willow Street between Spring Street and Walter Purdy Drive.

They also installed new fire hydrants, modified some existing storm and sanitary sewer systems, reconstructed the road subgrade, installed new concrete curbs and gutters and applied an asphalt base coat.

Willow Street was reopened to through traffic after the asphalt base coat was applied. However, the town has indicated there will be crews on site periodically throughout the winter to complete some small tasks and repairs as required.

People will notice that driveways and some grass areas have not been reinstated to original condition at this time. This work will be done next spring/summer when conditions are more favourable.

Other work to be completed on Willow Street, between Spring Street and Walter Purdy Drive, during the next construction season includes domestic water service changeovers, sidewalk construction and reinstatement, installation of a liner in the Dickey Brook culvert and an asphalt seal coat on the roadway.

The upgrade to the infrastructure on the upper section of Willow Street, between Walter Purdy Drive and East Pleasant Street, will also be carried out during the next construction season. That work will see the water main replaced, the modification of some storm and sanitary sewer systems, the installation of some concrete curbs and gutters, the paving of the street and the reinstatement of grass and driveways affected by the project.

A note sent to property owners by the Town of Amherst on Dec. 4 indicates work on the section of Willow Street between Spring Street and Walter Purdy Drive is expected to resume around June 1, while the work on the section between Walter Purdy Drive and East Pleasant Street is scheduled to begin around July 1.

The notice indicates some properties on the upper section of Willow Street will be hooked up to temporary water services during the 2019 construction season. More detailed information will be provided to those property owners closer to the start of construction.

If anyone has questions, comments or concerns about the project, they are asked to contact Andrew Bickle, the town’s capital assets co-ordinator, at 902-694-0081 or Ben Pitman, town engineer, at 902-694-0680.

The federal and provincial governments, through the Clearwater and Wastewater Fund, are providing $1.7 million towards the project. The Town of Amherst is providing $535,000.