Bay St. sidewalks get new surface

Walking along the north side of Bay Street will be a little difficult in coming weeks, but the impediments will result in a flat, new surface for the sidewalk.

The city is working on two projects downtown, the first repairing the curbing and ramps and adding decorate brickwork to match that on the south side of the street.

On Thursday, a crew lead by Caseco Associates worked on breaking up the present ramp and pouring the concrete for another. The ramp on the northeast corner of Bay and Sidney will be replaced, while the others will just receive repairs.

Caseco also lead the brickwork project.

With that $78,000 project nearing completion a second project will begin Sunday, laying a new surface over the whole sidewalk.

Sierra Stone will complete the $41,000 overlay project.

Repairing the sidewalk is difficult, with the water right underneath, so the city opted to clean the sidewalk and cover it over with a stone and poxy mixture rather than dig into it.

The overlay will run the next two Sundays and Mondays, to keep the impact on businesses to a minimum.

Mayor Kim Abel warned that even if the sidewalk looks dry, people should refrain from stepping on it.

Thursday, Abel said this adds to a number of improvement projects downtown lead by the city and community volunteers.

The city purchased new garbage cans, and with the help from volunteers spruced up the street with planters and a good deal of cleanup.

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