Saskatoon homeowner frustrated after street closed for almost 4 months

Amy Smith wants to know why construction on her street has dragged out for months, making it difficult for her family to get into her house.

The work on 11th Street E. between Victoria Avenue and McPherson Avenue started on the May long weekend and has been going ever since. The large water, sewer and road rehabilitation project is part of the city's multi-year plan to remove and replace all lead water mains from the streets of Saskatoon.

While the main has now been taken out and the trench has been filled in, the street remains unpaved and closed to traffic.

"I think [the city] should be a bit embarrassed about how this project has been managed," Smith said.

"It's shameful. It's almost cruel, the steps that they've put these residents through."

Smith said the construction has made life difficult for her and her neighbours. For weeks, she and her two young children have had to walk around construction equipment on the blockaded street to reach their home.

"The contractor is supposed to give residents safe access to their property, so that would mean roping off a part of the road so you don't have to dodge between skid steers and backhoes," she said.

"It'd be providing a safe barricade so residents can walk to and from their properties. And that has really not happened."

Smith said she was told when the work began that it would likely take eight weeks. 

She said her family has had to park on side streets for months, making it very difficult to navigate with two small children.

"I've vocalized the safety concerns about my children since May," she said.

"I'm just one person. I physically can't carry a three-year-old and a five-month-old."

City reaction

The city apologized for the delay. 

"To be perfectly honest, we didn't meet the targets that we were hoping to meet with our contractor," said Matt Jurkiewicz, Saskatoon's director of construction and design.

"That's our responsibility and we are taking action to improve on that for the future."

Jurkiewicz said several factors led to construction delays, including work on an underground power feeder that ended up taking two weeks.

He said the neighbourhood's age also contributed.

"It's a historic neighbourhood, so that in itself has some inherent challenges with some uncertainty as to what is underground," he said.

"Some of these areas are reaching 100 years old, so there were some minor delays related to not having full certainty of exactly what is below the ground."

Jurkiewicz said crews expect the road to be fully open in the next several days. He said paving crews were in the area Tuesday doing final work.