Detour of duty: St. John's closures planned while major work being done

St. John's drivers can expect detours and disruptions in the coming weeks as several city roads will be closed while major repair work gets underway.

Starting Monday, Military Road from Garrison Hill to Rawlins Cross will see sidewalk, curb and street rehabilitation a project that will continueuntil July 21.

"It's a major piece of work," Coun. Danny Breentold CBC on Sunday.

We do have a short construction season here.- Coun. Danny Breen

"It's a project that was originally scheduled for last year but because of time constraints was put off to this year. We have a narrow window to work there.

The annualthe Tely 10 race goes through that section at the end of July, Breen said, meaning there'sa limited window for construction.

Breen said there was a section that was originally supposed to be kept open to traffic for the first couple of weeks while sidewalks and the curb were being done.

"But it became apparent after the tender was awarded that that wasn't, for safety reasons, a good idea," said Breen.

"So it was decided to detour around the area so the work could be completed as quickly and safely as possible."

Brookfield, Outer Ringalso to close

Meanwhile, Brookfield Road will be shut down June 8-12for restorative work.

"Sometimes you can have traffic going through these areas," said Breen. "Other times it's far safer to shut the road, have the work done, completed in a quicker time frame and then have it completed and the road reopened."

On the weekend of June 10-11, the Outer Ring Road will be cleaned up.

The only safe way to clean the Outer Ring Road is to close it while the work is being done, saidBreen, acknowledging that closing the road will result in more traffic on neighbouring streets.

"I think most people would appreciate that it's work that needs to be done," he said.

A tender for more street rehabilitation is being awarded at Monday's regular council meeting, Breen said.

"There's going to be a lot of construction happening in the summer," he said. "We do have a short construction season here, so we have to compact it into the period of time we have to get the work completed."