Work of Prince Rupert city crews reopens some main thoroughfares; while others remain active construction sites

Seventh Ave East has reopened to traffic

City of Prince Rupert Work crews and their contractor partners have begun the process of backfilling a number of open excavation sites, reopening a few of them to traffic after extensive closures related to water infrastructure work.

Two key roads, 7th Avenue East between Seal Cove and the city (see above) have reopened, though the travel lanes are significantly narrower than residents will remember and there will be no paving taking place.

The other reopened avenue is that at McBride and Third Avenue East adjacent to the under construction RCMP detachment.

Third Avenue East has also been reopened following weekend work

Crews are currently working along Frederick Street, which seems likely to be the next of the major work areas to be reopened to traffic.

Work is moving forward towards reopening Frederick Street 

On the west side of the city however, Kootenay Avenue remains an active construction site and will remain closed, as is the case on the East side at Applewaite leading up to the still closed Crestview Circle.

Work on Kootenay Avenue continues and the road remains closed 

As we outlined last week, the City or Prince Rupert announced its plans to reopen some of the streets with an official statement on Thursday, October 12th. 

With Mayor Herb Pond noting of the work underway towards the water infrastructure project.

“We understand that this is absolutely an inconvenience to the community, and especially to those neighbourhoods that have been dug up. Prince Rupert is heading into a critical period of renewal, and to get to where we need to be, there will be unavoidable disruptions. We commit to doing our best to minimize them, and appreciate the community’s understanding while we do this essential work to prevent the potential collapse of our water system.”

The backfilling work began following some extensive commentary on social media towards the lengthy amount of time for the work and the still to be heard update on the status of the city's quest for Federal funding.

Thursday's statement did not offer up any anticipated timeline towards when the city hopes to hear on their  quest for 82 million dollars from the Federal government. 

Or just as importantly, what the city's plan is towards moving forward, should that funding not come as fast as they hope.

You can review much of the history on the city's work on infrastructure and its pursuit of funding towards it through our archive page here.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.