MOOSE JAW — The Ministry of Highways spent nearly $7 million this fall to repair a section of Ninth Avenue Southwest that was slipping into the valley, while it plans to finish its work next year.
The ministry designed a plan to address this problem, completed the work of installing a berm at the bottom of the side slope of Highway 363 and paid for the entire $6.6 million project itself, all through the Urban Highway Connector Program, according to a report presented during the Nov. 25 regular city council meeting.
With the berm installed, the province plans to remediate and pave the road next year.
The ministry completed the work according to its standards and specifications and those criteria listed in the construction agreement it signed with its contractor, with the agreement including quality control testing and quality assurance, the report said.
City hall will receive test reports and quality monitoring information after the ministry completes the project, which is a standard condition of acceptance for such initiatives, the document continued. The province will guarantee its work on the berm through a two-year warranty coverage.
The location also includes three geotechnical monitoring wells, and with the berm work completed, the ministry will confirm that the instruments in those wells are functional, the report added. It will also hand over those devices to the city for ownership and operation.
Before the province began building the berm, a team of archaeologists excavated several sites near the base of the road in search of potential artifacts. Over four months, the 12 sleuths searched an area — called the Garratt Site — in a flood plain west of the Seventh Avenue Southwest bridge, south of Valleyview Drive, adjacent to Ninth Avenue Southwest/Highway 363 and flanked by the creek.
The team’s job was to collect as much material in a scientifically acceptable way, catalogue it, and then analyze everything to understand the artifacts better. The site is rich with items, and based on what lab studies show during the next year, it could be a unique, one-of-a-kind location in Saskatchewan.
Besides small pottery fragments, archaeologists found plenty of bones. Most were from bison, but there were also materials from coyotes, wolves, dogs, and other small mammals. The team also found several complete or broken bison bone scapulae that Aboriginal people may have used for horticultural purposes, such as to hoe a garden.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Dec. 2.
