Walkway over Raymo Road nixed after further collapse

Jeff Green | Jul 01, 2015

Residents who live on the Raymo Road were happy to hear that even though the Township of Central Frontenac was unable to provide a vehicle passage over Fish Creek where two culverts collapsed two weeks ago for liability reasons, at least a walkway was going to be put in.

Kyle Labbett, public works supervisor, said at a meeting of Council last Tuesday (June 23) that, “A walkway that will be suitable for someone pushing a stroller will be put in.”

However, instead of making it easier to walk over the road, the township ended up blocking the way completely with cement forms, even putting up a berm to discourage any kind of traffic.

“This is the opposite of what they said they were going to do at the meeting,” said Steve McCullough, who lives on the Raymo Road. “They made it harder to walk over the road, not easier.”

When contacted, Kyle Labbett said that the planned walkway hit a snag when crews went to put it in late last week.

“We had planned to smooth out a path on the west side of the roadway, but when the backhoe went to do the work, a sinkhole developed between the two pipes. At that point we realized there was no safe way to put in a walkway, so we had to block off the road. Again it is a matter of liability,” he said.

With the road now fully blocked off, Labbett said the township is scrambling to put in a final fix as soon as possible.

He said that they were able to get a geo-technical study done in two days, when it usually takes up to a month, and the engineering work is proceeding. He expects to have a proposal ready for Council approval within a week or so. Mayor Frances Smith said that Council will hold a special meeting as soon as staff is ready to provide options, including costs and time lines, for the repair.

In the meantime, the only way to cross Fish Creek from Raymo Road is to go south, take Echo Lake to Oak Flats Road and come out to Road 38 at Piccadilly.

The Raymo Road culverts were inspected in 2013, as part of a bi-annual inspection of all bridges and major culverts in the township. It was determined that it had one to four years of life left in it and was slated for reconstruction in 2018.

On the day that the road caved in, trucks from Crains' Construction were carrying rocks to repair a CP rail crossing on the Raymo Road.

“Crains' is not responsible for what happened,” said Labbett. “There are no load restrictions on Central Frontenac roads.”