Crews will be paving an additional 1.25 kilometres of the road voted the worst in B.C. by members of the B.C. Automobile Association.
Paving will begin Sept. 6 on the northbound lanes of Ospika Boulevard between Massey Drive and Ferry Avenue. The estimated cost of the project is $334,000, which will be funded through a surplus in the city's $3.5 million road rehabilitation budget for the year.
"We were extremely pleased that we were able to come in under budget," Mayor Dan Rogers said "Council's role in this is making sure our roads and infrastructure are a priority. We've already agreed as a council to keep that priority going forward."
Council has committed to increase the budget for road rehabilitation to $3.75 million in 2012, Rogers said.
Ospika Boulevard received 552 votes in the province-wide in the 2011 BCAA Worst Roads Campaign. North Nechako Road and Domano Boulevard also made the top 20 worst roads list - in 13th and 17th place.
The southbound lanes of Ospika Boulevard from Massey Drive to Ferry Avenue were already paved this year as part of the scheduled road rehabilitation - along with two other sections of the road.
City transportation manager Mick Jones said 25.5 lane-kilometres of roads were repaved this year. The budget surplus was as a result of those projects going according to plan, he said.
"Projects do have a contingency built into them. This is a result of those projects going well," Jones said.
Sections of Foothills Boulevard, Domano Boulevard, Cranbrook Hill Road, PG Pulp Mill Road and 15th Avenue are slated for paving in 2012.
Streets are prioritized for paving based on the Surface Distress Index (SDI) - a measure which looks at factors like potholes, cracks, distortion, ruts and wear of the road and rates the overall road surface quality.
A brand new road would have a SDI of 10, Jones said, while no road in the city is rated less than three, Jones said. The section of Ospika Boulevard set to be paved has an average rating of four to five, he added.
"We shoot for an average SDI of seven," Jones added.
