The company rebuilding Columbia Avenue in Castlegar says its workers have been receiving violent threats from the public — and they’re not going to take it any more.
“The messages and comments are becoming more violent, to the point where it is definitely a threat of assault,” says Stephanie Allen-Pelletier, a spokesperson for Marwest Industries.
“We had one caller say they would ‘hunt us down.’”
Allen-Pelletier says the company is going to forward any violent or threatening comments directed at crews or traffic control staff directly to the police.
“We have many motorists coming through who are patient and understanding — they even bring us doughnuts,” she says. “But there are some people…”
News of the threatening messages comes as Marwest announces a new target for completion of the $7-million project.
The rebuilding of the only thoroughfare through town began in May and was supposed to be competed this week. The new date for completion is Nov. 15.
Marwest is replacing the water, sewer and other underground infrastructure, enhancing the street lighting, adding bike lanes, and resurfacing the road between 13th and 17th avenues.
The company said unforeseen and unavoidable delays, like getting permission for work near the railway tracks, has slowed things down. The permitting process with CP Rail took about five weeks.
Paving of the second section of the roadwork is scheduled to begin Nov. 2.
Delays set Columbia Ave project completion back
Gas line break halts traffic
Motorists have been frustrated with alternating traffic and a rough road surface all summer.
On Tuesday, workers broke a natural gas line while working to replace a water line under the road, shutting down all traffic on Castlegar’s busiest street for an hour.
According to Marwest, the gas line was damaged by a rock that was being moved by the excavator. The rock contacted the line and cut the wall of the pipe open, resulting in the release of natural gas to the atmosphere.
“A thorough investigation was conducted by WorkSafeBC and Marwest industries Ltd. to determine the cause of this incident and the operator was cleared of any unsafe actions,” said Marwest in a press release.
One woman was evacuated from her home while FortisBC emergency crews cut the flow of gas, repaired the leak and restored service.
It was the second gas leak to halt work completely on the project. The first, in May, was caused by an improperly mapped gas line just under the road surface.
In this case, the gas line was properly marked.