After several months of closures, Canada Ave has finally fully reopened two-way traffic.
The road had been under construction since the beginning of May while improvements were installed. That included a several months long full closure starting at the end of June.
Improvements to the road are hoping to mitigate water pooling in the flood plane. That partially involved tearing up the foundation of the road and replacing it with large foam blocks, which is a practice used in a couple of trouble spots in Victoria.
In an interview in April, North Cowichan’s manager of infrastructure, John DeHoop said the project was driven by environmental factors.
This portion of Canada Ave as a flood zone is impacted by heavy rain storms,” said DeHoop. “The road improvements include raising a portion of the road to the 10-year flood elevation to allow for a bypass through Philip Road, insulation of a new storm and drainage infrastructure, including a new floodgate, and replacement of the sanitary sewer and water main.”
Also installed is a new crosswalk, paved multi-use path down the east side of the street, and sidewalks.
No official comment yet from the Municipality of North Cowichan or contractors working on the project.
