Friday, September 24, 2010 - Things Are Moving Quickly Now

Good Friday morning and welcome back to Dawson Road Today!

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Yesterday turned out to be a good weather day for construction, which was a nice surprise because it had been predicted to be wet.  The construction crew finished putting in the subgrade in the northbound lane. Then they moved up to the Speedvale Avenue end of Dawson Road and started doing the same thing in the southbound lane. They are ripping out the old subgrade and installing new subgrade B to bring the southbound lane up to the level of the northbound lane. They will continue working on that today. Their progress on this part of the job seems to be moving very quickly. Remember I told you that they would pack this subgrade material down to make a good solid base. This photo shows the tamping attachment connected to the power excavator to do the tamping.

In yesterday's post I expressed a concern about a misplaced bus stop sign. I was pleased to see yesterday that the bus stop sign had been removed from the middle-of-the-road and put back into position on the east side of Dawson Road in front of  Guelph Medical Place.

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I received the following personal update to the status of the construction project from Charles Groen, On-site Inspector, Pitura Husson Limited: 

• work will continue now on the subgrade installation and installation of the black flexible drain hose
• curbs will be installed the week of October 4. Two types of curb will be used - at the entrances to driveways a straight curb will be used and along the sides of the road a curb and gutter will be installed. This latter will help to drain surface water away and into the storm water system. If all goes well this work should only take a couple of days.
• the first coat of asphalt paving will be laid over the subgrade roadbed. This work should take just a couple of days.
• after a minimum of three days to set, the second final coat of asphalt paving will be laid.
• while the road is being paved, the old utility poles that need to be removed will be worked on. Guelph Hydro has already connected the electrical wires to the new poles.  The other wired utilities that include Rogers Cable, Bell Telephone and Atria need to disconnect their wires from the old utility poles and reconnect the wires to the new utility poles. When complete the old poles will be removed by Guelph Hydro. Hopefully, all of these utilities can be coordinated to have the old poles removed before the landscaping work is done and without delaying the landscaping work being done.
• landscaping work will be completed.

Since the beginning of the Dawson Road reconstruction project, it has been my good fortune to have had access to the expert opinions of Charles Groen, On-site Inspector. Charles has been very patient and explained many of the intricacies of the reconstruction project that I have been able to pass along to you through this blog. Charles works for Pitura Husson Limited which is a design/engineering firm out of Richmond Hill Ontario. Pitura Husson Limited is the city of Guelph's consultant and contract administrators for this project. Throughout this blog I have referenced Charles as a source of updated and accurate information. With the hundreds of pictures that I've taken since April, I didn't have a recognizable picture of Charles, until now.

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At the start of construction this morning, you will be directed by an arrow and pylons as you enter the construction site to drive in the right northbound lane. During the day the roadway in the southbound lane will be at different height than in the northbound lane. So, for your own safety and that of your vehicle, stay in the lane that you're directed and slow down.

I got a little heads up last night. Due to popular demand, the QB2 Café and Dining will be hosting another menu tasting event in October. If I can get confirmation of the details before the construction project and this blog come to an end, I will certainly pass them along to you. If I don't, give them a call at the phone number in the right sidebar to get the details. It's an event that is not to be missed.

On a personal note, Linda and I attended a Ward 1 all candidates meeting Thursday night, to help us make the right choice for the upcoming municipal election on October 25. It was well attended, very helpful and had a few surprises. Find out when all candidates' meetings are being held in your ward - plan to attend - make an informed decision and vote on October 25. It is important.

Don't forget Rona Cashway's big paint and laminate flooring sale this weekend and it is starting today. Rona Cashway is located at 55 Dawson Road.

Brian