Now, the Onni Group, which is building the Suter Brook development in Port Moody, says the mess that is Murray Street and the widening of Ioco Road will be completed by the end of July.
A letter from Onni’s Fraser Hall to Eugene Wat, PoMo’s director of engineering and operations, states that Murray Street and the west side of Ioco Road will be finished by the end of May, now just two weeks away. The Murray Street and Ioco Road intersections will be finished by mid-June, with the east side of Ioco finished by mid-summer.
But the letter also said the dates are rough ones and “subject to many variables.”
“Those variables would be always weather, unfortunately, and approval processes naturally takes some time... for certain materials,” Hall said at Tuesday’s council meeting, admitting the schedule was an aggressive one. “As long as things keep moving smoothly I think we can adhere to the schedule.”
PoMo councillors remained skeptical.
Coun. Karen Rockwell said she goes through the Murray/Ioco and Ioco/St. Johns intersections frequently and finds the directional signage inadequate. “I receive complaints almost daily from residents about vehicles blocking the roads, the lack of direction. I want to make sure if they’re doing it within this time frame they’re also doing it legally.”
Wat said Onni has all the necessary highway use permits to do the roadwork and that bylaw enforcement staff have been working with the developers to address reported infractions.
Mayor Joe Trasolini asked whether any delays had been built into the latest schedule — they haven’t, Hall said — but so far things are on schedule.
“And the Ioco completion by the end of July, is that all six lanes?” asked Coun. Bob Elliott, adding, “I haven’t seen any start.”
Hall said the west side of Ioco will be ready to be paved in two weeks; once that’s done, Onni will start work expanding the east side.
“Okay, well good luck,” Elliott replied.
In an interview yesterday, Hall said that even though it may not look like it, the time-consuming below-grade road work is largely done; the paving on Murray and part of Ioco is expected to be finished in one to two days.
Suter Brook residents will start moving into the Aria 1 tower in mid to late June, with the rest of the residential structures ready for residents by late fall.
The Thrifty’s grocery store, TD Bank, Starbucks and a few other shops will open Aug. 13.
spayne@tricitynews.com