EMBRUN — Russell Township council has chosen to keep one lane open through the next Notre-Dame Street construction zone, a decision that preserves limited traffic access but could stretch the underground work across two construction seasons.
Staff told council a full closure would give crews more room, reduce traffic interactions and allow faster work: about 9.5 weeks under a full closure, compared with up to 20 weeks with one alternating lane.
Mayor Mike Tarnowski said, “Council here today has to decide what’s best for the entire community, not simply what’s most efficient for the contractor.”
Council chose alternating one-lane traffic at its Sept. 14 meeting after separating Item 11(e) from the bulk vote on departmental and committee reports. The choice followed a lengthy debate over business access, construction safety, the shallow depth of a gas line and the risk that an extended closure might not finish before winter.
The approved plan keeps one travel lane open with alternating traffic while crews work between St-Pierre Road and Domaine Street. The Township’s report says temporary full closures will still be required to install service pipes to individual properties.
The gas line was known to be in the corridor, but staff said its shallower-than-expected elevation and Enbridge’s protection requirements became clearer after tendering. The line has to be exposed during nearby work, limiting where equipment, materials and vehicles can be placed.
The Township reported that 19 businesses were visited. An overwhelming majority favoured keeping one lane open; one supported a full closure.
The report does not put a dollar figure on the difference between the options. Staff said no change order had been issued at the time of the meeting, leaving the possible cost or savings of the gas-line protection work unknown.
Tarnowski also cautioned that speed was not certainty. “Full closure may improve the likelihood of completion, but it certainly does not guarantee it,” he said, pointing to weather and other construction unknowns.