Work is expected to get underway next month on a revamp of one of Owen Sound’s major routes on the east side.
City council resolved earlier this week to award a $2.2-million contract to Harold Sutherland Construction for the Highway 26/16th Street East rehab project. According to a city staff report, the work includes replacing watermains, hydrants, sanitary sewer structures and resurfacing the road.
The south sidewalk will also be linked between 12th Avenue East and 16th Avenue East.
The original plan for the project was to re-do 16th Street East between 9th and 18th Avenues East, but it’s been scaled back to between 9th and 16th Avenues East. Owen Sound’s Director of Public Works and Engineering Dennis Kefalas says this is because bids for the work came in higher than anticipated.
Owen Sound was approved last year to receive more than $900,000 through a Connecting Links grant from the provincial government to fund part of the project.
16th Street East has been identified as a priority project in Owen Sound in recent years as it’s visibly worn and is a main arterial route, serving a central shopping area in the city and acting as the primary through-way for traffic heading to and from Meaford, The Blue Mountains and Collingwood.