The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Question: What specifically were the regulations the city had to follow that made the Wallace Avenue bridge so expensive ($1 million)? Did the city challenge those regulations, because that bridge seemed to cost way more than it should have. Mayor Therien: The Wallace Ave. bridge seems to be a concern to some people, and rightfully so. The cost of the bridge was a lot more than I think any of us imagined. In terms of regulations, there really was only one and it came from the Dept. of Fisheries and Oceans. Our original plan had us reducing the flow of water through the creek, but it was nixed by this department in favour of maintaining the existing flow of water. The volume going through had to remain the same. It appears there is some life flowing along in the creek and we could not disrupt this. Did we question this? Of course we did, but to no avail. Now to the crux of the matter, the cost. The water flowing through is very acidic with a PH level less than 4. This made the decision on the type of material a little interesting. Galvanized steel (which is materially cheaper) is very corrosive in nature and because of the acidic water would not stand up in the long haul. Concrete, which we did not use, and polyethylene material, which we did use, gave us a longer life span as the water is less harmful to these materials than the steel. The problem was they both have greater costs involved. The other problem was we had to remove a tremendous amount of rock at the bottom that was not expected. * * * Question: I thought the city was not allowing big semi trucks (including logging trucks) to go down Main St. anymore, but just the other day I saw one. What's the situation? Mayor Therien: When Main St. was dug up and the water/sewer lines were replaced, large semis (in particular logging trucks) were being rerouted through HudBay property, for which we thank them. The problem is that Main St. is a provincial highway and, although the city is the supposed authority when it comes to traffic control, we were met with an opposing view by the then-minister of Transportation and Highways, Ron Lemieux. The problem is that we do not have a permanent alternative for this type of vehicle traffic. With the logging industry being in the decline, we, at least for now, do not have a lot of heavy truck traffic. * * * Send your questions for Mayor Therien to The Reminder by phone at 687-3454, fax at 687-4473, e-mail at [email protected] or standard delivery at "Ask the Mayor," C/O The Reminder, 14 North Avenue, Flin Flon, R8A 0T2. No names are required. Ask the Mayor runs Mondays.
