By Alexandra Brothers
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
August 4, 2023 Edition
“We don’t want a jam on the street,” said Mayor Dave Aker with regards to traffic during the upcoming Street Jam road hockey tournament in August.
Mount Pearl city councillors discussed the possibility of traffic interference during the hockey festival at the council meeting Tuesday. The planning, engineering and development (PED) committee brought forward a proposal to resurface Olympic Drive. This project would occur throughout the remainder of the summer and into the fall.
Mayor Aker raised the concern that this could possibly interfere with Street Jam this year—more specifically with the traffic that will be diverged due to the tourney. Olympic Drive is typically the road used as a bypass for Old Placentia Road traffic during the festival.
Director of recreation and community safety, Jason Collins, acknowledged that the resurfacing has the potential to interfere with Street Jam, but noted the PED Committee and the community services and public works committee have been trying to coordinate and work through the issue.
Director of planning, engineering and development, Gerry Antle agreed with Collins, adding the resurfacing of Olympic Drive should be manageable. “Most of the work with the resurfacing of Olympic Drive is not serious excavation... so we should be able to keep traffic flowing there fairly well,” said Antle. He too acknowledged that there could be some traffic interruption on certain days, but that it should be possible for the City to accommodate it.
The contract for the Olympic Drive resurfacing tender was awarded to the lowest qualified bidder, Farrell’s Excavating Ltd., in the amount of $798,933 (HST included) in a motion moved by councillor Isabelle Fry and seconded by councillor Mark Rice. The motion was carried unanimously.
