The city will present this year’s infrastructure projects to the public at an open house on May 8 from 3-7pm at Memorial Hall.
In 2014, Selkirk council identified the establishment of an asset management program as a key priority when it adopted its Community Strategic Plan. Two years later, in 2016, council set out its detailed vision for the program by adopting its Capital Asset Management Strategy (CAMP).
The reverberations of those decisions are felt each year, and never more so than in the spring, when streets are resurfaced, pipes relined and sidewalks added or repaired as part of the new year’s infrastructure projects.
Managing city assets properly pays off every year
Selkirk approached asset management in stages, first compiling a database of all core city assets. Next, CAMP was developed, giving staff the tools to navigate through the city’s infrastructure and know what there is, what point in the asset’s lifecycle it’s at, and what maintenance needs to be done and when.
CAO Duane Nicol says in asset management you’re always playing the long game, and that the decision more than 10 years ago to make better management of city assets a priority pays off with every passing year.
“By tracking and rating the condition of every asset, we’re able to plan smarter and spend more efficiently. We don’t wait until something fails — we act when it makes the most sense financially and operationally.”
“Take the twinning of the force main last year as an example. The pipe wasn’t old enough to need replacing, but because the province was already repairing Main Street, we coordinated our work. That saved money and minimized disruption. That’s what good asset management looks like.”
Road and underground work for 2025
Dufferin
Phase 2 of the force main twinning project is planned for this year on Dufferin Avenue, pending the award of a tender.
The force main from the Dufferin lift station is an essential piece of infrastructure and is more than 40 years old and flows about 90% of the city’s wastewater. It is a critical asset. Once Phase 2 of the twinning is complete, it will provide 100 per cent redundancy in this section of the wastewater network and allow the city to switch between the two pipes, reducing the risk of mass sewage discharges into the Red River and allowing for future upgrades without disruption of service.
When this takes place, the city will cut into the road surface on Dufferin in just three places to accomplish this work.
Eveline & Taylor
Several other projects identified through CAMP will take place this year. Eveline Street from Taylor to Queen Ave. and the 200 block of Taylor will receive watermain liner installs to extend the life of the line by 50-plus years and improve service to the area, which has been prone to water main breaks in recent years. Wastewater pipe renewal will be done as well and there will be roadway restoration on Taylor leading into Eveline up to Queen, including new curbing.
The 200 block of Taylor will also have a sidewalk installed and be connected to the Eveline Street sidewalk, improving safety for pedestrians and connecting to the city’s AT pathways.
“There was no sidewalk on Taylor so installing one will connect to the network on Eveline going into the park and south to Eaton. The sidewalk will also lead to a bus stop on Main Street,” says Dan McDermid, the city’s Director of Operations.
Main Street North Landscaping & Trees
Phase 2 of Main Street North landscaping will also take place this year, including the planting of native grasses and plants, as well as drainage swale seeding and the installation of rain gardens, mostly on medians from Manitoba to Taylor. Swales are gently sloping channels designed to move water, while rain gardens are shallow depressions designed to capture and infiltrate rainwater.
Four-hundred trees will be planted throughout the city this year as well. Some of them will be planted in soil cells that were installed last fall in preparation for the new trees this spring. Soil cells are modular, suspended pavement systems designed to support large tree growth and manage stormwater in urban areas by providing ample, uncompacted soil volume beneath pavements.
Construction of the Mercy Bike Path will be constructed and sections of Mercy Street will be resurfaced this year; more details will be presented at the open house.
CAMP includes maintaining assets, as well
As part of CAMP, the city does annual inspections of road surfaces, hydrants, playgrounds, sports fields, all fleet, parking lots and other assets in a scheduled rotation. Potholes are assessed as they are filled – they’re marked and monitored to see if there is a recurring problem.
A detailed assessment of all city sidewalks is done every three years, allowing the city to do targeted repairs to areas that were damaged or deteriorated and considered trip hazards.
“Our sidewalk assessments give us a great amount of detail and is part of CAMP,” McDermid said.
“We’re able to fix our sidewalks panel by panel versus waiting for complete deterioration, and when you do small pieces at a time you keep your costs down as well.”
This year the city will replace several sidewalk panels throughout the city furthering the work towards safe and accessible walkways.
To learn more about the projects, visit the open house on May 8th and to sign up for infrastructure updates head to MySelkirk.ca/Infrastructure.
