A divided village

Wellington residents to endure months-long Main Street closure

Work on the Wellington water main and sanitary sewer projects is well underway in the village. The water main into Wellington on the Lake has been commissioned and is awaiting final connection to the water plant. Interim paving has been put down, and traffic control signals have been removed from the corner of Main Street and Prince Edward Drive. The bulk of the underground work west of the water plant (toward Wellington on the Lake) is now complete. It is expected that in the spring, a final coat of asphalt will finish that portion of the waterworks project. That’s the good news.

Now, the focus turns eastward. This week, a section of Wellington Main Street in front of the water and wastewater treatment plants is being reduced to one lane, and traffic is being controlled by temporary traffic lights.

Next week, however, will see full closures beginning on Main Street. According to the County’s works department, portions of Main Street between the waterworks plants and Cleminson Street (the Legion) will endure full closure in rolling increments. This means that sections of Main Street are expected to be dug up in increments. The entire roadway in these sections, will be closed to enable the depth of the excavation.

As a result, folks with homes on Main Street (between the plants and the Legion) as well as Carla Court, Lakeside Landing, McDonald and Shourds Streets may encounter times when they cannot access their property.

The County’s manager of engineering acknowledges that “there may be times where access will be limited or not available when the excavation is right in front of an intersection or driveway. When this is in place, the contractor will make the necessary arrangements with the affected residents,” assured David MacPherson.

Such assurances have not satisfied affected residents. They worry about access to emergency services, to health care, and to local businesses. For example, one resident of Carla Court is undergoing treatment for leukemia. He sometimes gets a call from the doctor needing same-day treatment. He needs to know he can get out of his street. It is, for him, a matter of life or death.

The County has assured this resident he will get access in and out of Carla Court, but making it happen is the responsibility of the contractor rather than the municipality. His is a loud voice. He worries his neighbours may fall through the cracks.

DISMAL COMMUNICATIONS
This resident joins a growing chorus of voices who say the County’s communication with affected residents has been poor.

Joanna Green, chair of the Wellington Community Association (WCA), voiced some of those criticisms at a council meeting late in December.

“By far, the biggest avoidable complaint about this entire issue is the lack of communication from Shire Hall to affected residents and businesses,” Green explained to Council. “The sharing of information has been completely inadequate and, in some cases, misleading.”

Green canvassed businesses along Main Street, and the response repeated over and over again: “a serious lack of communication with no point person to talk to.”

In a public meeting in Wellington last August, the councillor from Wellington proposed a working group—a representative from the County, the contractor, the councillor, Wellington on the Lake and the WCA. Nothing happened.

Now, Main Street is to be closed entirely, splitting the village into two halves, each inaccessible to the other. Even pedestrian traffic will be prohibited in the closed portions.

Wellington Councillor Corey Engelsdorfer said that he and Green had been in regular contact over the past months, and that he, too, is struggling to get answers from Shire Hall and the contractor.

“We have been more reactive in our approach to communication than we have been proactive,” said Engelsdorfer at the December meeting. “I must admit that there are days when I am learning of road closures or trail closures or water shutoffs from residents.”

Engelsdorfer asked the CAO how the municipality intended to do a better job moving forward.

“In my opinion, it hasn’t been acceptable,” said Engelsdorfer. “This is only the beginning of a multi-year project. It’s not instilling a lot of confidence in me or for residents in Wellington.”

CAO Marcia Wallace acknowledged that communication hasn’t been adequate.

“Obviously, the communication has not been ideal,” said the CAO. “We have staff who have engaged with all of the local businesses, and we have signage being printed now that will signal that the businesses are still open,” she said. “We are working on communication that talks a little bit more about how you can cope with the changes. We are working on a plan.”

But while residents wait on a plan, Main Street is closed, and residents’ questions pile up.

BLASTING UPDATE
It was always going to be a tough job burrowing through the thick, hard layer of bedrock that sits just below the surface in much of the village. The pounding from heavy jackhammers has reverberated through the village for weeks. But pounding the rock won’t be enough.

Two days before Christmas, a notice arrived to some Wellington residents close to the Millennium Trail, advising that Frank’s Drilling and Blasting Ltd would commence drilling and blasting operations starting on Monday, January 13.

Blasting will occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. and could take up to 40 business days, according to the notice. Three long sirens will be sounded prior to the blast to warn of an imminent blast. The blasting contractor’s employees will then make a final check to secure the area. Following each blast, the contractor will inspect the site and then sound the siren, signalling the all-clear.

DETOUR UPDATES
The Millennium Trail between Cleminson Street and Wellington on the Lake has been closed to all users since December 18 and will continue throughout the full closure of Wellington Main Street. The closure of the Millennium Trail is required so that emergency services can use it to access the Wellington on the Lake community, off Prince Edward Drive, during the Wellington Main Street closure.