INNISFAIL – Town of Innisfail officials are moving forward to replace 25 sidewalk locations across the municipality under this year’s Sidewalk and Catchbasin Replacement Program.
And work is already underway on a $1.6 million infrastructure project on 42nd Avenue from 51st Street to 53rd Street Close.
“That's the 42nd Avenue sanitary forcemain replacement,” noted Steven Kennedy, the town’s director of operations, adding the project began a month ago and will be completed by the end of July. “We are replacing that forcemain along that street, as well as doing a section of water main.”
That project was approved by town council on Feb. 24, as was the infrastructure upgrades along 40th Street from 52nd Avenue to 51st Avenue at an additional cost of $847,700.
On May 12 at town council’s regular meeting, Kennedy introduced a report for the 2025 Sidewalk and Catchbasin Replacement Program, one that’s focused on the replacement of sidewalk sections in 25 separate locations throughout town.
Kennedy told council these locations have been identified as trip hazards, damaged, heaved or ponding sections that needed to be added for continuity, or areas that have been identified in the pedestrian safety review that was completed earlier last year.
“It is spot location. These are our repairs. They range from five metres to 30 metres. They vary in all the locations,” Kennedy told the Albertan. “It's a bit bigger than what we did last year. We typically try and do about $100,000 worth of work.
“This year, because we combined it with our catchbasin program, we were able to bump it up a bit more.”
Council was told a request for quotation was posted and then closed on May 2 with six contractors submitting bids, from $174,370 to $431,250.
The recommended bid of $174,370 from Mountain View County’s Collin’s Concrete & Bobcat Ltd. was unanimously approved by council.
“There are no items that look to be unbalanced when compared to the other bids and Collins Concrete has completed the town replacement program for the last five years,” said Kennedy in his report.
Council was told the sidewalk and catchbasin replacement project is under the budgeted amount of $175,000 and will be funded from the Roads and Storm Sewer Operating budgets, and a Trans Canada Trail Accessibility Grant.
