Monday, September 13, 2010 - A Week Best Behind Us

Good Monday morning and welcome back to Dawson Road Today! Today's post marks the 80th post I have made.

I'm glad it's Monday of a new week because last week is a week best behind us:

1. with last Monday being Labor Day it left us with a short work week and that is never good for productivity
2. for the most part of last week it was below seasonal temperatures and very wet, making it miserable for construction
3. early last week the site was plagued with senseless vandalism which wasted a lot of money and time
4. last Friday morning saw an emergency with a natural gas pipeline break on-site.

I'm glad it's Monday of a new week because last week is a week best behind us!

I don't like to start the post with a bunch of negatives; but that's the way it was and now we have an opportunity to turn it around. A bright spot last Friday was when a person was negotiating Dawson Road on an electric wheelchair. There was a long line of traffic behind the wheelchair but all the drivers were calm and patient, not rushing the operator of the wheelchair. All of the old paved surface has now been removed and the transportation lane on Dawson Road will not be as smooth for the next short while.

Midmorning of last Friday saw an emergency situation when the construction crew hit a buried gas line with one of the large excavator machines on Dawson Road between Rona Cashway and Noel's Children Centre. Traffic to this section of Dawson Road was immediately stopped. Witnesses report seeing 'clouds' of natural gas coming from the hole in the ground. Because the wind had blown the natural gas directly towards Noel's Children Centre, the children and staff of the Centre were evacuated to Sheldale school. From there the staff phoned the parents of the children and arranged for the children to be picked up. During the time it took for the repair of the natural gas pipeline, traffic on Dawson Road was restricted to patients only on their way to Guelph Medical Place. The emergency plans that were in place to deal with an emergency of this type seemed to have worked well. I have not been advised of any injuries. The crew was not able to resume work at the site because Union gas was still on site even late in the day. The first picture at the right shows where the gas line break occurred in front of Rona Cashway. The second picture shows the hole which was being excavated and the repaired natural gas pipe. The third picture shows a close-up of the repaired natural gas pipe. It is expected that at the start of work today, the construction crew will resume work at this site.

When you come onto Dawson Road this morning and as you enter the construction site area you'll be directed left by one of the orange and black arrows. Drive slowly because the road is rough. Follow the lanes created by the pylons and you'll make out just fine.

Weather will be better this week than last for construction although we are expecting some rain mid week and temperatures to be slightly cool. Lets get this week off to a better start for construction progress and for business on Dawson Road today. Come on down.

Brian