‘Unforeseen’ problems force Mewburn repairs to grind to a halt

Construction work on a popular route between NOTL and Niagara Falls has been delayed due to setbacks caused by the road’s conditions.

The repairs on Concession 6-Mewburn Road in Niagara-on-the-Lake, initially estimated to take 16 weeks, came to a halt because of “unforeseen site conditions,” said town spokesperson Marah Minor.

Thanks to the delays, the project’s new, potential schedule could mean the work won’t be completed until sometime in November.

Walker Construction, the contractor in charge of the project, began the work on Mewburn Road _ at the intersection of Warner Road – on May 1. It expected to be done by the end of August.

But the contractor hit a snag on the bedrock, road slopes and unevenness of the street surface.

These factors became an issue when Walker Construction was working on retaining walls that line and bolster the road.

The walls help to prevent the road from collapsing and from being eroded over time, Minor said.

The road’s inconsistent conditions make the support walls that much more critical to the site’s stability and function, she said.

The construction only affects about 400 metres of road but until the problems are solved there’s no connection for drivers via Concession 6-Mewburn.

The town is working with Walker Construction to come up with a new design for the east side support wall.

Minor said the contractor has until Sept. 18 to complete the design and assuming it receives approval from the town, construction will resume shortly thereafter.

She estimated it would take eight weeks more to complete the construction once the new design is give the go-ahead.

The town was unable to say how the delays will affect the cost of the project.

Repairs to the road follow the long-awaited reconstruction of the Mewburn bridge, which finally wrapped up in November 2019.

Minor said the road construction is a different project altogether and is part of the town’s 10-year road maintenance plan.

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By Evan Loree, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, THE LAKE REPORT