The Diggin’ Downtown construction project’s timeline in Huntsville has been impacted by heavy rain.
Over the past few weeks, the Town’s received over two months’ worth of rain, putting Huntsville’s storm sewers to work. This increased rainfall has impacted the project’s progress.
When significant rainfall occurs, the sewer and sanitary lines are actively working to remove the rushing water. Since the construction crews are working on live systems, they are required to pause the infrastructure replacements while the sewer and sanitary system perform their function. The significant rainfall has impacted the project timeline.
In addition to the recent weather events, the age of the buildings downtown with older infrastructure has made updating service connections more difficult and time-consuming. The town says it’s vital these new water and sanitary pipes provide consistent, reliable service to properties downtown, and additional time has been spent on these connections.
Based on the current project progress and weather delays, construction will remain within the Stage 2 construction limits past the mid-July deadline and will continue within Stage 2 until further notice.
The Diggin’ Downtown project team continues to work closely with Dufferin Construction on project scheduling and looks forward to sharing more information and a schedule update following these significant rain and weather events.
While most of the work right now is happening underground, area residents will soon have an idea of where some streetscape elements will be installed. In the coming weeks, signage will be installed downtown to showcase where trees, Muskoka chairs, and other streetscape elements will be installed later this year.
Project Reminders
- The Swing Bridge rehabilitation is nearing completion – in the next few weeks, scaffolding will be removed, and boating navigation under the bridge will return to normal
- Please follow posted signage and yield to oncoming boats under the bridge until signage is removed and bridge rehabilitation is completed
- Traffic studies continue on various intersections throughout the project, timing is adjusted based on peak times and we continue to monitor this throughout each Stage
- Center and Main Street now has a left-hand turn from Centre Street North onto Main Street West – this will help move traffic along, especially during peak commuting times and on weekends
- Downtown Huntsville remains accessible for pedestrians and all businesses in the construction zone are open following COVID-19 protocols
Background:
Diggin’ Downtown construction began in March 2021 to address aging underground water and sewage infrastructure. Replacing the infrastructure also created an opportunity to improve the pedestrian experience with new sidewalks and streetscape elements to provide a more attractive and accessible downtown, including a smooth new driving surface.
The project consists of five stages in total. Stages 1 to 4 are planned in 2021, with Stage 5 wrapping up all construction activities in the spring of 2022.
With #diggindowntown work continuing under the swing bridge we'd like to remind boaters on the Muskoka River to follow posted signage near the swing bridge and yield the right-of-way to oncoming boat traffic while respecting other boaters.#Muskoka #Boating #HuntsvilleON pic.twitter.com/bvlzmjcs2U
— Town of Huntsville (@townhuntsville) July 12, 2021