Wima Kenny | Mar 21, 2018


This has been the current greeting in Sydenham for the past few weeks, and rumours are flying.

The Project: Public Works held a public information meeting about the Bedford Road & George/Portland intersection projects some time ago; last spring or possibly before that. The event was complete with maps, timelines and budget information and there was a reasonable turn-out of local residents. But it takes a bunch of big machines, traffic slow-downs and a huge hole In the middle of the village beside a busy intersection to really bring out curious and indignant taxpayers. We’ve tried to get answers for some of the current concerns.

The Problem: Bedford Road from the site of the former beer store to the corner of Alton Road has become a very heavily travelled road, specially during commuter times and summer, when Frontenac Park is busiest. Constrained by a ditch, large trees and a stone fence on one side, a sharp drop to private lawns on the other and utility poles on both sides, it’s barely wide enough for two lanes of traffic. Walkers and cyclists dodge along the edges: it’s unsafe for everyone.The corner of George, Portland and Bedford includes the exit from Foodland and the crossing of the Cataraqui Trail. It’s become a sprawling mess, made worse by an off-road shortcut across the corner of the beer store lot and the trail and into the grocery parking lot.

The Plan: The current project has been planned to address these problems by widening Bedford to include a pedestrian walkway and a cycle lane similar to the ones through the village along Rutledge. The corner will be reconfigured with the goal of making it safer for all users, and more attractive as an entrance to the village.

The Money: $1,800,000 was budgeted for the project over a two-year period. An $80,882 grant came from the Ontario Municipal Commuter Cycling Program. Bricaza Corp, a family owned Kingston company was awarded the winter contract. Their bid of $1,490,941 was almost $200,000 below any of the other three bidders.

Bedrock and The Tank: Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth said that when the water mains were put in along Bedford and Portland, bore holes showed bedrock to be at a reasonable depth, so no further tests were deemed necessary for installing a runoff water management tank at the top of the park, only a few feet closer to the creek than the water mains. The ‘stormcepter’ tank is intended to provide a settling tank to catch any of the salt and sand not already trapped in the several sumps that will be located along Bedford and the first 200 feet of Portland, before discharging the rest of the runoff into the creek.

The Big Dig and Its Resolution: Bricaza began to dig. And dig. Below a few feet of topsoil, there was sand, all the way down to below lake level. The bottom of the hole, 25 or more feet deep, filled with water, and bedrock was found to be another ten feet further down. By this time, the hole was pretty impressive, for the sides had had to be widened to prevent the sand walls from caving in. The bottom of the hole, basically quicksand, had become an unsafe work environment. A geotech engineer assessed the problem, and recommended that a geogrid be put in three feet below the tank, and topped with gravel and a concrete slab. This would support the tank, and once the hole is filled in around it, allow it to to ‘float’ in a stabilized manner. According to David Holliday, Public Works Area Supervisor, the cost overrun falls well within the project’s contingency fund. The project is still well within budget.

Some Further Questions and answers from Public Workls

What are they doing with all that sand? It’s being stored on Trousdale’s property at Moon’s Corners, and will be returned to fill the hole, and to be used in other parts of the project.

Isn’t that an awfully big runoff pipe? Yes: it’s designed for an exceptional storm. The rip-rap stone is there to diffuse the outflow and the pipe opening will be closed over with a metal grid.

Is any of this project likely to slow traffic along George St? Evidently research consistently shows that changing the environment can have a traffic calming effect.

Where did all that sand come from? Good question: ask a geologist. And consider: the graveyard is all sand, there’s a big sandpit behind Altons’ homestead, and that continues into Harrowsmith swamp and the creek: a line of deep sand continuing from Sydenham lake, following the creek…

When will this project be finished? So far, the completion date is still July 1st.

What if I have further concerns, questions? The Bricaza Site Supervisor is Randy Thompson, phone 613 561-8497. (posted on exit door of Foodland). He has been keeping in close touch with the residents of Portland St and Bedford Road who are most affected by all this disruption, and will gladly answer questions about the project. South Frontenac’s Public Works’ Other Current Projects

Harrowsmith Intersection Nearing Completion

“A transformative project,” is what David Holliday, Public Works Area Supervisor, calls the changes to the centre of Harrowsmith. By July, work will have been completed on the drastic redesign of the tangle of roads intersecting and crossing Road 38.

“Parts of roads have been closed, a new road has been built, a derelict building removed, the creek has been accommodated. The result will be a much safer intersection, two small parks, more parking spaces; a more visually appealing village centre. This coincides with Harrowsmith’s community improvement grant, to help businesses ‘spruce up’ their properties.,” he said

Road Repaving

The Harrowsmith-Sydenham road will be resurfaced in a somewhat different manner this summer: the current asphalt base, rather than being removed, will be kept and topped with a ‘SAMI’ or stress absorbing membrane interlayer, then a final asphalt layer will be added, wide enough to accommodate paved shoulders with bike lanes. This SAMI layer is intended to lessen the problem of surface cracking.

“Got Our Picture on the Cover”

The bike lane up Rutledge Road through Sydenham is featured on the (back) cover of Share The Road’s 2017 Bicycle Friendly Communities Yearbook. One by one, as South Frontenac’s roads are resurfaced, bike lanes are being included.

Perth Road Fire Hall

This spring will see the completion of the site work for the new Perth Road Fire Hall.

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